


Atmos Campaign

by hunter139



Series: hunter 139's multiverse of stories [8]
Category: Aliens vs Predators Series - Various Authors, Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, Metroid Series, Star Wars - All Media Types, Storm Hawks (Cartoon)
Genre: Crossover, Guerrilla Warfare, Multiple Crossovers, Multiple Universes Colliding, Multiverse, Some Humor, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 17:26:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 73,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20531780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunter139/pseuds/hunter139
Summary: The Storm Hawks have endured everything Atmos has thrown at them, from the dreaded Murk Raiders to the ruthless Cyclonians and even the uncharted lands of the Far Side. But will they survive against the Covenant?





	1. Covenant Arrival

It had been just over a year since Cyclonia fell to the Wastelands, and for most of that time, peace had reigned. The people of Atmos were left to rebuild their damaged Terras and with minimal threats, they had done just that. It had been a golden age of peace, unprecedented for Atmos and all thanks to the bravery of the Storm Hawks.

But it would not last. It was too much to hope that the Cyclonians would completely give up just because their Terra fell. Now, a year later, they had experienced a resurgence and were attempting to finish what they had started.

The Cyclonians had divided themselves into major factions, some following disgraced commanders like Ravess and Snipe. Others remained loyal to the throne and held out hope that Master Cyclonis would return with reinforcements from the Far Side and bring the Atmos back under her rule. Some factions did neither; Terra Zartacla had turned into a rogue Terra run by Mr. Moss. The deranged warden had been locking up anyone who had come near the prison, Cyclonian or otherwise.

Fortunately, this division ensured the Cyclonians were as much of a threat to themselves as they were to the rest of Atmos. And because of this, they could not reach the same level of power they once held under Master Cyclonis, and with the lack of decisive leadership thanks to the death of the Dark Ace and the infighting of Ravess and Snipe, the combined Sky Knights of Atmos only had to worry about occasional border skirmishes.

Then Master Cyclonis herself had started sending reinforcements back from the Far Side. With more upgraded Night Crawlers armed with Far Side tech, she also employed something new: Soldiers in strange black armor, armed with energy weapons of a type not seen before. They didn't seem to run on crystals of any kind, and were far more advanced than any technology on Atmos. The same could be said of their vehicles, with fighters capable of flying at incredibly high speed and large walking machines that struck fear into the hearts of those who saw them.

Then there were their robots and cyborgs: The former were all black with a skeletal frame and glowing red eyes, with a sword on one wrist and a shield on the other, both capable of absorbing energy blades. The latter were covered in all grey armor and were equipped with jet packs that sent them flying short distances. Both were equipped with armor similar to Cyclonis' mercenaries.

These new soldiers would've overrun Atmos, if not for the return of the Storm Hawks and their new allies and technology from the Far Side, among the most notable being a pair of beings seemingly with superpowers, armor that appeared out of nowhere and a strange vessel of similar origin to Cyclonis' new mercenaries, only capable of turning completely invisible. Even still, they were struggling to catch up, with Cyclonis' tech and number advantage offsetting almost everything else.

Now, the battle for Atmos had started once more, and it was even grander in scale than the last time. The combined might of the forces of Atmos (with the Storm Hawks leading the charge), versus the forces of Cyclonia, including the new and deadly mercenaries at their disposal.

Aerrow was on his skimmer, sword fighting with Cyclonis' new second in command: A young female only slightly older than Cyclonis herself, armed with an unusual sword that was just a silver cylinder that when activated, discharged a shaft of red energy. This woman was also faster than a normal human, not to mention seemingly holding the power of telekinesis and the ability to shoot lightning from her hands, and it was only due to Piper's Binding magic that Aerrow had any chance of beating her.

Even now, Aerrow was covered in a blue glow as he grabbed the red shaft of energy in his hand, before kicking her in the stomach. She barely kept her balance on the wings of Aerrow's skimmer, before retaliating with forks of lightning from her fingertips. The red-headed Sky Knight was able to absorb the lightning and glared at his enemy for a second before their struggle began anew.

The rest of the Storm Hawks were also in battle, along with their new allies from the Far Side and their old friends. Piper's Binding and the superpowers of the two armored people took down Talons and Night Crawlers dozens at a time, while also bringing down the much more dangerous machines and ruthless soldiers of Cyclonis' mercenaries. Still, the latter accounted for dozens of deaths, and it was still a losing battle. Then worse news came.

"Massive energy spike!" Someone called. "Seven miles west!"

There was a crackle of powerful energy before a massive blue-white portal tore itself into existence in the middle of the sky over several miles away. The battle abruptly came to a halt as all the combatants witnessed the event with various states of awe or dismay.

The Cyclonian Talons were thrilled because they thought it was a sign of more of Master Cyclonis' reinforcements from the Far Side, with some already cheering at the prospect. The Sky Knights were scared for the exact same reason, and tensed up in preparation for what would come out.

That anxious waiting lasted for all of three seconds before an object emerged from the portal, which promptly sealed shut. The combatants didn't notice however, as their emotions changed to ones of terror and awe.

A massive ship hung in the middle of the sky, silver and purple, with a bulbous hook-shaped bow. The ship easily rivaled the previously airborne Terra of Cyclonia in size if not surpassing it entirely.

Whatever it was, it was obviously not of Atmos design; not even the examples of Far Side tech seen during the Cyclonian invasion matched up with the strangely designed hyper-battleship in front of them.

The alien ship, for that was all that it could be, hovered near the battlefield, to the confusion and awe of everyone... except the mercenaries, who started retreating from the massive vessel, with a disconcerting state of panic considering the confidence they had a moment ago.

"All units retreat!" A female voice called over the radio. "Pull back to defensive positions, now!"

The Night Crawlers and Talons looked at their allies in confusion, while the Sky Knights felt their emotions surge into hopefulness. Aerrow, Piper and Starling on the other hand, felt a surge of fear. If Cyclonis' powerful new allies were so afraid of these new arrivals, then what could they do to the rest of Atmos?

The answer came moments later, when the superpowered agents sent a message over the radio.

"Everyone fall back! NOW!"

"Fall back!" Aerrow echoed, knowing better than to doubt his powerful allies. "FALL BACK!" His warning came just in time.

Hundreds of purple aircraft shot out from the main hanger bay, splitting off into swarms that surrounded the alien mothership. Then, they split off even further, some splitting off to head to different Terras, some staying to protect their mothership... and some were heading towards them. A horrible wailing noise emerged from each craft, as they moved into attack formation.

A good chunk of the combined forces were peppered with blue bolts and green explosives, taking down many Skimmers and heavily damaging the larger airships. Strangely, the purple aircraft seemed to ignore the Atmos forces, only attacking them if they got in the way. Their true targets seemed to be the forces of the First Order.

On the bridge of the Condor, the Storm Hawks had watched in horrified awe as the massive ship exited its portal and immediately began releasing fighters that fired on everyone in the surrounding area. Stork's reaction was predictable:

"We're doomed."

"What is that?" Aerrow asked for everyone. An armored figure came up behind them.

"It's the _Intention's Eye_," Their superpowered ally answered. "A CAS-class Assault Carrier commanded by Shipmaster Laccabeus." The armored being pointed at the retreating mercenaries as they made a beeline for the portal to the Far Side, followed by several squadrons of Banshees. "And it looks like he's out for blood."

* * *

On the purple bridge of the assault carrier, a dozen Jiralhanae watched the viewscreen as hordes of native aircraft fled before the squadrons of Banshees that were bearing down on them. Through the chaos, the sensors could clearly discern the few craft that were clearly not of this world retreating from the Covenant onslaught.

"Shipmaster!" The sensor operator called. "Enemy signatures have been detected. They are leaving the battlefield at max speed."

"Order our squadrons to intercept." Laccabeus responded. "Burn any of these primitives that get in their way."

The order was given, with many of the officers trying and failing to contain their expressions of savage glee. After a month of hunting, they had finally gotten a location on the First Order, and were ready to repay them in kind for their attacks from earlier.

...

The forces of the First Order fled for the portal that brought them from the Far Side, with some of the smarter Cyclonians following them. The Banshees gave chase, managing to shoot down a couple transports, along with several Cyclonian skimmers, sending their occupants on a one way trip to the Wastelands... those who survived the initial barrage anyway.

Regardless, dozens of them made it through the portal, which promptly closed before the Banshees could get through. Once the mercs had retreated through the portals to the Far Side, the purple aircraft then turned back towards the combined Atmosian forces.

The combined Sky Knight forces retreated, but many of the remaining Cyclonian Talons were either too stupid or fearful to retreat. Surprisingly, the remaining Night Crawlers had already flown away from the ship, seemingly in panic.

The end result was a massacre. The alien aircraft (which the superhumans had called Banshees), were much more sturdy and more heavily-armed than any skimmer on Atmos, from the main Atmos or the Far Side.

The pilots within were also very skilled, and their weapons were rather powerful. A flight of Banshees was able to take down a battle ready airship with no casualties on their end, as the remaining combatants were witness to as several airships started falling out of the sky, with smoke pouring from their engines.

As the Storm Hawks watched, several of the remaining Cyclonian Destroyers moved into the air around the _Eye_ itself and opened fire with all their weapons. However, the silver-white energy shield deflected the rounds like they were annoying spitballs.

Then, with several plasma turrets discharging, the _Eye_ contemptuously swatted the Destroyers out of the sky. Even from this distance, the Storm Hawks could see dozens of parachutes open as the crew abandoned their vessels (from those vessels that weren't immediately vaporized by the plasma torpedos).

To the squadron's horror and disgust, but to the complete lack of surprise of the two superpowered beings, the swarming Banshees opened fire on the falling Talons, showing no mercy even to those who could no longer fight back.

"It's time to leave." Aerrow said quietly, drawing the rest of his team from their horrified trance. The Cyclonians had rarely of ever been this cruel and ruthless to their opponents, and now they had to deal with something worse than even the First Order.

* * *

Once everyone had retreated from the battlefield, the Covenant aircraft returned to the _Intention's Eye, _with the forces within already planning another assault. On the bridge, that discussion was already taking place.

"Where have they gone?" One Chieftain asked.

"It's unclear." The sensor operator replied. "However, it's possible that some of them could have taken refuge on these 'Terras' as the inhabitants call them."

"And if they haven't?" Makterbus asked as Laccabeus looked to be deep in thought.

"Then their new allies will know where they went." Laccabeus interjected. "Brothers, it appears that we will be here for a while."

"So, what's our next move?" Another Chieftain said. After a moment, Laccabeus spoke again.

"Prepare another assault force. This time, we will strike the inhabitants where they live and take every strategic and tactical location we can. But," He held a finger up to silence the snickering among his commanders. "Do not obliterate them. We want them afraid so they will not retaliate against us while we deal with the First Order. And make sure to take prisoners."

"Shipmaster?" Makterbus looked at his commander, confused. An emotion everyone else in the room was feeling.

"Someone on this world will know where the First Order has gone." The High-Chieftain explained. "We need all the information we can get. And when we find them, we will grind them into dust!"

Cheering broke out among the assembled Jiralhanae, while the Sangheili were a bit more subdued, though they were still smiling. For the next hour, Laccabeus went over the detailed plans about how they would strike at Atmos. An attack which would leave the world shaken.

...

Several hours later, the Banshees had been refueled and were launched again, this time escorting Phantom dropships loaded with infantry and armor. Their targets; the most strategically important Terras on this side of the Atmos.

None of which were prepared for the hell that was going to rain down on them.

* * *

Captain Scabulous had watched as the massive warship blew its way through the combined Atmos forces and the forces of Cyclonia. The Murk Raiders had chosen to stay out of that fight considering the huge size of the ship and after seeing what it had done to the Cyclonian destroyers that attempted to fight back.

"What do we do now?"

"We stay hidden in the clouds." Scabulous replied. "With any luck, we'll avoid these aliens without any trouble."

That hope was dashed by Eyeball's next report.

"Cap'n those aircraft are heading towards us." Eyeball said. "I think they know we're here."

As if they heard him, green explosions and blue energy bolts impacted the Raider ship.

"Retreat." Captain Scabulous called as the Banshees swarmed after them. "Retreat!"

The Murk Raiders fled into the depths of Terra Deep, pursued by the Covenant Banshees. Dozens of skimmers had been shot down, as well as several of their cruisers when the Covenant aircraft took down their engines.

They had hoped that the pressure of the deeps would be enough to dissuade the Covenant from following, but the Banshees seemed to have no issue pursuing them (though the plasma bolts were dissipated somewhat by the clouds).

Still, several fuel rod blasts blew holes in the ships, forcing them to rise higher lest they be crushed by the pressure. Then, the next blasts impacted their sonar sensors, destroying them entirely and rendering the Murk Raiders blind and deaf.

As soon as their sensors were knocked out, the Phantom moved in. Laden with Jiralhanae Jumpers and Sangheili Rangers, the troops were deposited on top of Scabulous' ship and made their way inside.

"Cap'n, we've been boarded!" Eyeball shouted over the wailing alarms. It was a rather unnerving experience considering how often the Murk Raiders had boarded other ships.

"Prepare to repel boarders!" Scabulous ordered.

The Brutes and Elites had blasted their way into the interior of the Murk Raider ship, and began making their way through the hallways. For a brief moment though, they halted when they heard singing.

"Deeps, deeps. We'll crush your tiny hulls. Deeps, deeps. Leave nothing but your sku-" The chant of the Murk Raiders was abruptly halted when several pink crystals impacted one and caused him to explode.

The Raiders halted in shock, having never seen such brutal displays in their lives. Not even they would use such barbaric methods or weaponry. They also finally got a good look at their opponents.

They were enourmous, standing at over 8 feet tall and clad in colorful and battle-scarred armor. One of the species had backwards knees and four mandibles where their mouths should be. The others looked a lot like giant hairy apes, albeit with far more muscle. Both species were clad in colorful, albeit battle-scarred armor, and both had the look of bloodlust in their eyes.

Growling in their own languages, the species charged the Murk Raiders, who drew their own crystal swords with a lack of confidence. Even Cyclonian forces supported by their advanced mercenaries hadn't given them this much pause before.

And for good reason. Crystal blasts fired at these aliens were absorbed by blue-white energy shields that sprung up around them, leaving the Covenant free to return fire. Blue and red plasma bolts melted holes wherever they struck, regardless of whether it was the metal hull or the organic Raiders.

Screaming rent the air, leaving a horrifying cacophony when it mixed with the laughing of the Brutes and Elites, as their weaponfire increased in volume, while the Raiders were forced to give ground to their more advanced and physiologically stronger opponents.

Soon enough, the Covenant strike team had made it to the doors that led to the bridge, the remaining Murk Raiders had either been cut down or abandoned ship (of course, those that fled were shot out of the sky by the circling Banshees). Affixing a breaching charge to the door, the Covenant got to cover just before the entry vanished in an explosion of blue light.

Scabulous watched in horror as the Brutes and Elites broke through the door to the bridge and filed in. With a laugh from both species at the horrified Murk Raiders, they aimed their weapons at the surrounded bridge crew.

* * *

It had been a rather eventful few days for the Colonel. When the Cyclonian forces and their mercenaries returned from the Far Side, the Colonel had reasserted his neutrality and swore to stay out of their way.

That quickly changed when this 'First Order' had started taking potshots at him, forcing him to ally with the free Atmos. To be brutally honest, he didn't care about the people of Atmos. The Colonel only wished to ensure that his operations would continue to run smoothly.

Then, in the middle of the 'Battle to end all battles,' a massive alien ship had arrived, deploying hundreds of aircraft which targeted both sides indiscriminately. When the First Order had retreated, the Colonel had quickly realized that he would have no chance at defeating them.

Thus, he retreated back to his compound, and prepared for a long seige. While the Colonel was used to getting his way, he doubted negotiation or intimidation would be much use against an alien force that immediately opened fire on the inhabitants of the planet. And according to the reports he heard, these 'Covenant' were launching simultaneous attacks on dozens of Terras at the same time.

At this point, the Colonel had done all he could to turn his palace into a fortress. Now, all that he could do was wait, and pray that these aliens would not find him. A horrible wailing sound followed by explosions made it clear that his prayers had gone unanswered.

Exiting the building, the Colonel and his guards watched as the Covenant 'Banshees' blitzed passed his manor, green explosions following in their midst. Further off, they could see the more bloated Phantom dropships flying in this direction as well.

The Colonel watched as the purple aircraft fired on his compound, melting through the metal walls with extreme ease. Then the larger and sleek transports came to a hover over his landing platform, disgorging large creatures he had never seen before.

The creatures stood at twelve feet tall, covered in thick armor. Their skin actually looked wormlike, and they had a massive shield on one arm, and what appeared to be a large cannon on the other.

The spines on their back shook as they 'roared', before these massive creatures turned their cannon toward the Colonel. With a surprising burst of speed, the Colonel was able to leap out of the way of the green explosives. The same could not be said for his guards, and the Colonel turned just in time to see their outlines consumed in a green flash.

Now alone against a horde of aliens, the Colonel was no fool. He knew that he stood no chance against such beings, and it would be idiotic to believe otherwise. With quick reflexes, the Colonel sprinted towards his private hanger, avoiding the plasma bolts, spikes, explosives, and carbine rounds as he did so.

Once inside, he quickly sealed the door, which immediately started glowing red as plasma bolts began chewing through the flimsy metal. Never having been so frightened in his life, the Colonel wasted no time in dashing for his personal heliscooter.

Mounting his personal craft, he was airborne just in time to see the Covenant break into the hanger. Now with more combat options, the Colonel spun around and fired his blasters at the aliens, forcing them to retreat back into cover.

"You dare come here and attack my home?!" He shouted, feeling a bit more bravado. "Do you know who I am?!"

His boasting was interrupted when he heard a loud hum behind him. A Phantom was hovering just outside the hanger, with a dimunitive alien standing on the side mounted plasma cannon. The Grunt immediately fired, clipping the heliscooter's blade.

The Colonel crashed to the ground in a heap, landing right in front of the aliens he'd previously been shooting at. Meekly, he raised his hands in surrender, only for the Covenant to laugh and aim their weapons at him.

* * *

Terra Rex was hit next. A dozen Banshees blitzed through the Rex Guardian stadium, killing dozens of people with plasma bolts and fuel rod blasts. The Banshees didn't stop there, hitting the rest of the Terra in concerted airstrikes.

Then the Phantoms appeared, bearing a pair of Wraiths, two Ghosts and two Choppers. The vehicles were deployed in the middle of the stadium, alongside a platoon of infantry.

"Spread out!" The Captain in charge of the attack ordered. "Tear this city apart and show these fools what it means to be savage!"

They did just that. The Wraiths started bombarding the city from the interior of the stadium, destroying dozens of homes and their occupants in a few short minutes. Once it was determined that they had been softened up, the Ghosts and Choppers were deployed and went after targets of opportunity.

Screaming rent the air as the Jiralhanae war machines plowed through buildings and people. The riders didn't even have to use their front-mounted autocannons; they just drove through any obstacle in their way, whether it was a building or a person.

Meanwhile, the Ghosts patrolled the perimeter of the city, cutting down anyone who attempted to flee into the wilderness. With the vehicles in play, the Covenant infantry formed themselves into hunter-killer teams, going building by building and killing anyone who hadn't already fled. Some called in positions for the Wraiths and Banshees, letting the bombardment obliterate some of the larger buildings.

One Brute Ultra was walking through the administrative building of Terra Rex when he came across a large locked door. Sneering, the Jiralhanae kicked it open, revealing the three elders/keepers of the Sky Knight code, trying and failing to hide behind their desk.

Before the Ultra could move forward, he was hit by two yellow energy blasts. The two guards within had unleashed energy from their lances at the Brute, only to find that the blasts were absorbed by the Ultra's energy shield. They fired again, this time causing the Brute's shield to flare brighter and forcing him to retreat back behind the door frame.

"Cowardly beast!" One guard taunted. "You cannot hope to conquer Terra Rex!"

As if in response, the Ultra spun out from behind cover and hurled what appeared to be a mace at the guard's head. The unfortunate soul fell to the force of the Brute's throw, which embedded the object in his skull.

Mortified, the elders and the second guard stared in shock at the carnage unleashed by the alien's throw, with a bit of curiousity at the object itself. It looked a bit like a mace, albeit without any crystals, as well as slightly larger than any mace on Atmos (except Gundstaff's). They were so shocked that they didn't notice the Brute had once again retreated behind cover.

Then the Spike Grenade detonated.

The Jiralhanae Spike grenade was a weapon that personified the savagery of Jiralhanae warfare. The casing alone was lethal enough as a blunt weapon due to the spikes on the exterior, while having the primary purpose of embedding itself into whatever object the user threw it at. When it exploded, the grenade released a hailstorm of superheated spikes that perforated any living being within. In an enclosed space, the spikes would richochet off the walls, ceiling and floor, increasing their lethality even further.

This weapon wasn't designed to wound or force others to focus resources on healing their injuries. This was a weapon designed to make their victims die screaming. And the keepers of the Sky Knight code (and their remaining guard) found this out the hard way.

The Ultra listened as the screams died down, then turned to look at the state of the room and his victims. It was messy, just the way the aptly named Brutes liked it. Laughing, the Jiralhanae left the premises, looking for more victims.

...

Soon, the Covenant forces had rounded up the bulk of Terra Rex's remaining civilians. Anyone else had either evacuated long before the attack, or were slaughtered by the Covenant. The whimpering people cowered at the sight of the massive aliens looming over them, some of which seemed to regard their captives with a look of hunger.

"Stay away from them!" The shout drew everyone's attention as the Rex Guardians drove towards the group, coming to a halt and forming a barrier between the civilians and the aliens.

The people lit up as the squadron moved to protect them, while Harrier walked towards the rank of Covenant, who looked at him and each other in amusement at the human's bravery.

"You will not harm anyone else on Terra Rex." Harrier declared, pulling out his sword. "We will not allow it."

"You think you can stop us, human?" One Brute snarled as the group aimed their weapons at Harrier. "Your home is in ruins, your leaders are dead, and every Terra on Atmos is suffering the same fate. You should learn when you are beaten."

"But," The Jiralhanae gestured and the Covenant lowered their weapons. "Perhaps a duel could settle this? I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of a duel of honor. If you win, we will leave, but if we win, then we decide the fate of your Terra."

"You cowardly beasts wouldn't understand the concept of honor!" Harrier yelled, eliciting laughter from the crowd of aliens.

"You wish to fight with honor, human?" The Covenant forces made a path for the voice that answered Harrier. A Sangheili walked through the crowd towards Harrier, energy sword crackling to life in his hands.

"Show me what you can do."

With a battle cry, Harrier lunged with his crystal sword, which was immediately parryed by the twin prongs of the Elite's sword. Another overhand swing yielded the same result, as the Elite almost seemed to put as little effort into blocking as possible.

Then, when the two locked blades, the Sangheili easily forced Harrier on the defense, causing him to leap back as the Elite broke the blade luck and narrowly missed taking the Sky Knight's head off.

With a grunt, Harrier swung his sword and sent a burst of yellow energy at his opponent, which splashed harmlessly against the creature's energy shield. The Elite chortled in amusement.

"This is your guardian? Your greatest warrior?" The Elite said to the crowd. "I've seen children fight with more spirit than this one."

With that said, the Elite lunged at Harrier and immediately knocked the sword out of his hands. Now defenseless, the Sky Knight of Terra Rex was backhanded against a nearby wall, causing him to gasp and pain as he felt that several bones were likely broken.

On his hands and knees, Harrier coughed as a shadow loomed over him. The Sangheili stood over the fallen hero, brandishing his energy sword in one hand and holding Harrier's sword in the other. It was only then that the Sky Knight could really appreciate the size and strength difference between the two species.

With a grunt, the massive Elite crushed the hilt of Harrier's sword, easily shattering the crystal within and rendering it into a useless hunk of scrap metal, before tossing the defunct weapon aside.

"Pathetic primitives." The Sangheili said dismissively. "Even the UNSC put up more of a fight than you."

And with that, the Sangheili held his sword over Harrier's prone body before plunging it straight down.

* * *

The Banshees expected an easy strike at the home of the Terradon scientists, but they found out why Bogaton's air defenses were reputed as the best in the Atmos. Two Banshees were shot out of the sky before the Covenant briefly fell back to find a better solution. It didn't take long.

The Phantom rose up from below the cliff, depositing infantry on the Terra itself, below the treelines and out of sight of Bogaton's guns. Using grenades and heavy weapons, they identified and destroyed any towers in the vicinity. Then, several Ghosts were dropped in as well, as the combined force made their way to the Terradon scientists.

They were too late.

The scientists had already left, using hidden tunnels they had carved through the Terra during Cyclonia's reign. While the Covenant had been busy slagging the defense towers, the Terradons had already fled.

The Covenant arrived to find the equipment of the Terradon compound smashed beyond any use. It seemed the Terradons wanted to deny access to the invaders, not that they cared. The lack of IFF technology meant that the Bogaton defenses were next to useless for them.

Nevertheless, with the Raptors gone and the Terradons in retreat, there was no one left to stop Laccabeus' forces from occupying the entire Terra.

* * *

At Terra Saharr, Banshees swooped in, raining plasma fire and fuel rod blasts on the tents. With the people panicking and in chaos, the Phantoms began unloading their complements. One Phantom deployed a pair of Ghosts, which made a beeline for the nearby Third Degree Burners.

The Sky Knight squadron of Saharr had to flee when the plasma cannons opened fire, doing far more damage than any of their crystal powered weapons could. One of them had to abandon his sky ride when the plasma started melting through it, though fortunately for him, the Unggoy driving the Ghosts decided he wasn't worth killing.

A third Phantom deployed something worse than infantry; a swarm of Yanme'e began flitting through the air, firing on the panicked civilians, and grabbing several particularily unlucky victims and tearing them apart.

People could only flee in terror as the swarm descended on the tents, the screeching Drones tearing the structures to ribbons with bursts of weapons fire and their own claws and teeth.

With no other choice, the Sky Knight of Saharr led the people to hide in the hills, pursued by the chittering swarm of Yanme'e and the laughing roars of the Brutes and squeaks of the Grunts.

* * *

The Wallops met the Covenant attack on their Terra with the same strategy they always used: Brute strength. Against the Jiralhanae and Sangheili, it was surprisingly effective, only matched due to their advanced technology.

One of the turning points in the battle for Wallop came when the new Chief of Wallop went head to head with the Jiralhanae Chieftain that was leading the assault on their Terra.

The Chief ducked underneath the swing of the massive creature's hammer before retaliating with a blast from his crystal spear, which was absorbed by the being's energy shields and armor.

Snarling, the Chieftain slammed his hammer into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent those near him flying, including the Wallop Chief. Capitalizing on his advantage, the Jiralhanae stalked forward with his hammer raised over the prone Chief, who rolled to the side to avoid the blunt object.

"Wallops, hit them now!"

At their Chief's command, dozens of Wallops appeared, holding extremely heavy objects over their heads. With various grunts and roars, they started hurling them at the Covenant lines, who were forced to break off and dodge the massive amount of thrown debris.

The Chieftain was able to briefly hold off some of the attack using his gravity hammer, but enough impacts drained his shields considerably, and even they couldn't last forever. With no other choice, the large Brute called for his force to fall back and regroup.

The Wallops cheered as they realized they could hold their own against the massive Brutes and Elites that made up the shock troops of the Covenant. The nearby Wallops even cheered as the Chief sent one other Brute flying backwards.

"C'mon!" He turned to the Wallops behind him. "Let's show these Covenant what it means to tangle with Wall-"

He never finished the sentence. He twitched and then collapsed, with a quartet of superheated spikes sticking out of his back. Behind the freshly created corpse, the Brute he had tossed aside had a Spiker hefted and pointed at the shocked crowd.

"This ends now."

Dozens of Jiralhanae, Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Unggoy emerged from the treeline, along with two Phantoms and half a dozen Banshees. The aliens roared and charged at the Wallops, weapons fire burning through the air as they did so.

Surprised, the now leaderless Wallops nevertheless fought on, enraged at the attack on their home. Despite the advanced and battle-scarred Covenant forces, the Wallops were actually succeeding at pushing them back. Then a pair of plasma mortars impacted the Wallop lines.

The result was devastating. Every Wallop within the blast zone was vaporized, while those outside it suffered from the scorching heat and fell to the ground, many of them on fire. The Phantoms had deployed their artillery behind the treeline and were now being used as spotters along with the Banshee airstrikes. The result was demoralizing to those that were resisting.

Then the Hunters appeared.

There were six of them, three pairs in total. Laccabeus had taken the threat of Wallop seriously, and devoted many heavy hitters to pacifying the population. Three of them unleashed a stream of green plasma at a group of charging Wallops, vaporizing many of them. Several attempted to engage the other Hunters, but were batted aside by their shields before being struck by more explosive fuel rod blasts and streams of green energy.

Morale broken, many Wallops began retreating from the village, while those who remained were cut down by the increasing number of Covenant. With the survivors in disarray, the Covenant began spreading to the rest of the surrounding Terras.

* * *

Blizzaris suffered horribly at the hands of the Covenant. Wraiths positioned themselves on a mountainous hill, their plasma mortars spewing flaming blue comets into the valley below. Dwellings and buildings were vaporized in threes and fours along with unfortunate Blizzarians as the superheated plasma had a catastrophic effect on the ice and snow.

Ghosts hovered past, the snow not bugging them in the slightest as they gunned down Blizzarians. Choppers also had a surprisingly good hold in the snowy landscape as their riders hurled incendiary grenades at any dwellings that survived the bombardment.

"Everyone get moving!" Suzy-Lu yelled to the fleeing Blizzarians. "We can't stay here."

"Leaving so soon?" A monstrous voice growled. "Is that any way to treat your guests?"

She turned to see a violet armored Jiralhanae Captain walking towards her. His pace was calm and controlled, but he bristled with barely contained bloodlust. A Brute Shot was secured on his back and aside from that, the Brute was unarmed.

Suzy-Lu popped her bubblegum in a dismissive gesture, inwardly wary of having to fight this being. Up close, she could see that the alien was rippling with pure muscle underneath its fur. Still, she made sure not to let her fear show to the creature.

"You should call ahead next time, eh." The Sky Knight of Blizzaris replied. "Don'tcha know it's rude to drop in unnanounced?"

Behind her, the rest of the Absolute Zeroes tensed up for a fight, but with a slight twitch of her hand, she quietly ordered them to proceed with the evacuations while she stalled the Covenant.

The roar of their Skimmer's engines could be heard as they left, but Suzy-Lu's eyes never left the Brute in front of her, who seemed amused at her attempts to keep her people safe.

She, on the other hand, was barely keeping her rage in check. These Covenant had slaughtered dozens of her people with absolutely no pity or mercy, and from the reports, it was a similar situation all over Atmos. She had even seen some Blizzarians surrender in panic, only to be gunned down by the laughing aliens. And she could still hear the screams of those that were taken prisoner.

It was a chilling sound.

And... for what? No one had any idea as to why the Covenant were doing what they did. It certainly didn't come down to a communication problem. As she could see, they had no issues speaking and understanding English.

If anything, they seemed to be just murdering people out of bloodlust, if their cruel laughter was anything to go by. They did seem to hate Cyclonis' new mercenaries, as they seemed hellbent on chasing them down in the earlier battle, not to mention that that was one of the interrogation questions she heard them asking. Nevertheless, they obviously didn't care about the rest of the inhabitants.

Ultimately, their reasons didn't matter to Suzy-Lu. They had attacked her people, slaughtered them by the dozens and were forcing them all from their home. There was no way she or anyone else was willing to negotiate with a group that made the Cyclonians look tame. She pulled out an ice crystal and quickly attached it to her axe, just as another group of aliens came to support their commander.

A wave of frost emerged from the icer stone, enveloping the approaching Covenant in ice. As Suzy-Lu looked over her work, she heard the ice cracking as the Choppers carved their way through the snow. At first, it appeared that the vehicles would run over their frozen comrades, but then they turned at the last second while their riders threw flame grenades at the ice statues, quickly melting through the ice.

The Captain glared at her, and far from being affected by the chill, seemed utterly enraged. With a loud roar, he drew the grenade launcher from his back and started firing them at the Sky Knight, who rolled out of the way of the explosive volley.

The rest of the Covenant soldiers snarled and aimed their weapons, but were halted by a raised hand from the Captain. "She's mine!" He shouted. With a surprising quickness, he charged at the Blizzarian Sky Knight, unleashing a full clip at Suzy-Lu, who barely avoided the explosive rounds.

Seconds later, the large alien was looming over her, with the blade of its weapon coming down on her. She quickly raised her ax to parry the blow, but flew back when the Brute's armored leg kicked her in the stomach.

Groaning in pain, Suzy-Lu's vision blurred, but she could still make out the distorted shape of her attacker above her. With a rumbling laugh, the Jiralhanae brought its foot down on her head.

* * *

Inside the Forbidden City, things were rather quiet and peaceful. The ruins remained undisturbed since the last time someone had been there, which was when Cyclonis and the Dark Ace acquired the key to the Far Side from the Storm Hawks. All in all, it was rather tranquil considering the last couple of times destruction had rained on the city.

The tranquility was shattered once again as explosions blew through the side of the cavern, leaving an opening large enough for a dozen skimmers to fly through. Or a pair of Phantoms, as was the case today.

The expeditionary forces had been sent here after interrogations among the inhabitants of this world, as well as the capture of a few Cyclonians who hadn't escaped to the Far Side in time. They claimed that this location and another had been crucial to finding the artifacts needed to get to the Far Side.

But as the Covenant looked over the ruins of the Forbidden City, they felt a strange sense of familiarity with the ruins here. Some of the architecture and writing felt familiar, and yet they couldn't place why.

The Forbidden City did not resemble any sort of Forerunner ruins (plus the _Eye_'s Luminary had made no mention of Forerunner technology on this world), and it definitely was not UNSC designed. Nevertheless, the feeling remained, but the Covenant did their best to ignore it as they scoured the city.

One patrol of Grunts and Jackals led by a Jiralhanae Major was walking through the halls of one of the buildings, chattering as they went. They were careful, checking every nook and cranny for any signs of life. Despite their alertness, they failed to notice a hidden switch on the floor until one Unggoy stepped on it.

The Covenant lance was catapulted into the roof, before landing painfully in a heap. The Major growled in anger as he rose from the pile, snarling at the now cowering Unggoy and Kig-Yar.

"Mind your surroundings." The Brute said. "The next trap could be fatal."

Once his group was properly cautious, (and after destroying the trap) the Jiralhanae activated his comm. "Commander, it appears that this city may be rigged with traps."

"Acknowledged." Came the reply. "We have already have reports of similar incidents. If you find anymore, destroy them."

"Understood."

The rest of the Covenant's exploration continued scouring the city, but besides the booby traps, all that remained in the city was ruins, debris, dead crystals, and a small cache of gold and jewels that was ultimately worthless to them.

Ultimately, they found nothing of real value, and concluded that anything they might have been able to use had already been taken by the inhabitants. Hopefully, their second expedition would yield better results.

...

On Tropica, another expeditionary force had been deployed, this one with much more heavy equipment. As they came across the ruins, that equipment made itself known with incredibly loud footsteps, as a Scarab made its way through the jungle.

There had been a few people vacationing on Tropica when the Covenant arrived. Most had fled when the _Intention's Eye _passed overhead, while those that didn't were shot down by the circling Banshees.

Because of that, no one was alive to witness as the Scarab landed on the ground, causing a large crater to be formed from the impact. It was followed by several Phantoms filled with infantry and vehicles, along with enhanced scanning equipment.

From the knowledge they had gained from captured Cyclonians, it appeared that their original doorway came from a temple hidden on Tropica. It didn't take much to get the Cyclonians to give up the exact location: all they had to do was give one of the prisoners to the Brute guards and let the others listen to his fate.

At the entrance to the temple, the Covenant force halted in their tracks. With a loud roaring noise, the Scarab's main cannon charged, before a stream of green plasma discharged into the rock wall, carving through it like a hot knife through butter.

There was a method to their madness. Covenant sensors had detected ruins that were buried deeper than the temple that had initially contained the door to the Far Side. The hope was that they could find more doors and hopefully discover where the First Order had retreated to, which, based on interrogations of the inhabitants, was looking more and more likely that they were at the Far Side.

While the Scarab was drilling its way into the temple, the rest of the Covenant forces began setting up encampments on the surrounding islands. It had been decided that the Terra would be an ideal staging area for the Covenant and a potential landing zone for the _Intention's Eye, _thanks to the Terra's natural barriers, isolation and position on the planet.

Half an hour later, the Scarab's digging had payed off. Underneath the cave where Stork had originally found the door to the Far Side was an even larger cavern filled with nearly ten similarly locked doors.

At this point, the Covenant above swept in and collected the doors, only to find that they couldn't be opened. One had been accidently destroyed by several Unggoy and Kig-Yar before that became clear.

A few Huragok were dispatched in an attempt to open the doors, but the alien supercomputers were at a loss as to what to do. While the Engineers were miracle workers when it came to any technology, crystal magic doors (and magic in general) was just not in their repertoire.

And so, with little else to do, the Covenant forces on Tropica bunkered down and continued their preparations for a full scale campaign against the forces of Atmos and the First Order.

* * *

Ravess was furious at the events that were happening around her. After everything that happened, with Cyclonis' retreat to the Far Side, her conflict with Snipe and the rest of Atmos over the rule of what was left of Cyclonian territory, only to find herself once again under Cyclonis' thumb when she returned from the Far Side with legions of Night Crawlers and her new allies.

And to top off all of her misery, now an army of advanced aliens had made its way to Atmos, with enough firepower and numbers to send assault forces to almost every Terra in Atmos, something even the Cyclonian Empire was incapable of doing at their height.

She would actually be rather impressed, if not for the fact that one of those assault forces had attacked her territory as well. All around her, screaming permeated the air, punctuated by the wailing of the attacking Banshees and the low pitched hum of approaching Phantoms.

Mounting her skimmer, the Cyclonian commander led the counterattack against the Covenant in the hope of driving them away from her territory. Though as she watched the few Talons loyal to her get shot out of the sky, she began to consider whether retreat was a better option.

Firing an arrow, she watched as the crystal tipped projectile struck the side of one Banshee, exploding with enough force to take a Skimmer down. To her surprise, the alien aircraft only gained a small scorch mark and turned its attention towards her.

Panicking, she turned her Skimmer around, and was immediately chased by searing plasma bolts as the telltale wail of the Banshee's engines followed her. Apparently, the pilot had taken exception to her attack.

She sent her ride into a dive, heading for the nearest Terra, while the battle raged around her. Her Talons were being massacred by the advanced alien technology, while crystal-based attacks seemed to have very little effect.

Landing on the Terra, she drove into the forest, weaving through the trees and avoiding the searing plasma fire and green fuel rod explosions that chased her down. Ravess came to a halt in underneath a small cliff and listened as the wailing flew past her and slowly faded.

Sighing in relief, she dismounted her ride and carefully made her way through the forest. Though she could hear the sounds of battle above her, they were slowly starting to drift away.

_Cowards! _She seethed. _I didn't give them the order to retreat!_

She turned back to her ride and was about to get back on it when a glowing blue sphere impacted the front plating and stuck fast. Before she could react, the plasma grenade exploded, vaporizing her skimmer and leaving a hefty afterimage seared into her eyes.

Through the ringing and her slowly clearing vision, she could hear some sort of alien chortling and could see a large dark shape standing among the treeline, which seemed to disappear into thin air.

As her vision finally became clear, she spun around, looking for whatever had attacked her, but could find no trace.

"Over here."

Until a voice emerged from the trees around her, causing her to draw her bow and look for the source. She couldn't find anything, which was more disconcerting than she would like to admit. And if what she saw earlier was true, her attacker may have turned invisible.

With her bow at the ready, she slowly made her way through the undergrowth, eyes alert for any sign of her invisible opponent. Suddenly, she saw a small red light in the trees and she quickly took aim, only for a blue lance of energy to cut her bow in two. Acting on instinct, she rolled to the side and hid behind a tree, peeking her head out to the side.

The Jackal sniper snickered at her stupidity and was about to go for the kill shot on Ravess when he suddenly noticed a shimmering silhouette approaching her. Smirking, the Kig-Yar decided to enjoy the show.

Meanwhile, Ravess turned her head just in time to see the silhouette resolve itself into a massive hulking alien. Before she could even think about moving, the creature backhanded her into a nearby tree.

Hitting the ground in a daze, she saw a small blade of blue-white energy emerge from the creature's gauntlet. As the alien stalked over to her, the only thought she had was whether her idiot brother was doing any worse than her.

...

At his own territory, Snipe was facing a similar situation as his sister, as the few Talons loyal to him were also being slaughtered by the attacking Covenant forces. When the alien forces had launched their assault in the air and on the ground, Snipe had responded with the same strategy he always used: attacking his enemies head on, overwhelming them with sheer strength.

While (occasionally) effective against the Sky Knights of Atmos, this strategy was rather ineffective against a species whose colloquial name was Brutes, let alone the intelligent muscle of the Elites and Hunters.

It didn't stop Snipe from trying anyway, as energy blasts from his Talon's skimmers and his own mace impacted several Banshees, Phantoms and infantry. The result only created small scorch marks on the hulls of the former, while just being absorbed by the energy shields of the latter.

"Uh, sir." One Talon spoke up as the Covenant guns turned toward them. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to retreat?"

Snipe snarled at his subordinate's suggestion. "If any of you decides to run, I'll make sure you'll answer to Cyclonis for it!"

No one wanted to point out that Cyclonis had already abandoned them... or that Snipe wasn't even on good terms with her anymore. Of course, with the advanced and ruthless aliens bearing down on them, no one wanted to fight them either. That fear only increased as plasma bolts flew past, some taking a few skimmers down.

"We'll hit these guys again!" Snipe shouted, oblivious to the increasing panic of his men. "FIRE!"

The blasts had the same effect, and it only seemed to make the Covenant forces angrier. It took him a moment to realize that he was the only one firing. Turning his head, he saw all his Talons either retreating or falling on their parachutes, which were immediately destroyed by the plasma fire of the Banshees.

"Get back here!" He shouted. "I didn't say you could run-" He was cut off when a plasma bolt struck the back of his ride, disabling the rotor that kept it airborne. "Uh oh."

Snipe's ride was immediately sent into a nosedive towards a small rocky Terra, screaming the entire way. The crash was loud and noisy, but somehow, the ex-Cyclonian managed to stay awake, as he stumbled from the wreckage of his ride, dazed with stars clouding his vision.

He blinked the disorientation away as he heard a humming sound. Looking up, Snipe saw one of those larger alien ships flying towards him, chin mounted plasma turret aiming right at him.

Backing up a step, he was surprised when a purple light emerged from the rear of the ship and a large alien slowly floated to the ground. He was clad in black and red armor, with a rather ornate helmet and carrying a large hammer in its hands.

"What do you want?" Snipe demanded, somehow forgetting that a lethal weapon was pointed at his head. The towering alien seemed amused at his demands.

"Are you in charge of this quadrant?" The alien Chieftain asked.

"Yeah, I'm in charge." The Cyclonian responded in a beligerent tone.

"Not anymore." The Jiralhanae replied. "We control this planet now."

"Ha, says you." The Chieftain blinked at the human's immaturity.

"Well, I was going to offer you a chance to fight for your territory," The alien stated, brandishing his hammer. "But under the circumstances, you're less than nothing to us."

That was the spark that ignited Snipe's fury. With an angry roar, he swung his mace at the Chieftain's head, which was intercepted by the blunt end of the gravity hammer. The resulting shockwave shattered the head of Snipe's mace and sent him flying.

The former Cyclonian hit the ground dazed, he saw stars as the blurry form of the Chieftain walked over to him, hammer at the ready. Snipe tried to move, but could only groan as the Brute lightly kicked him, breaking several bones in the process. The Chieftain snorted.

"Weak and undisciplined." The Jiralhanae raised his hammer over his head. "Just like the rest of your race."

The hammer came down.

* * *

Dozens of other Terras were heavily damaged by the Covenant attacks. The main factories of Terra Gale had been subjugated, it's people having been driven off while Laccabeus' forces took strategic control of the Terra, which involved setting up outposts and lookout towers all across the Terra. Several Anti-air Wraiths had also been deployed to ward off anyone who attempted to take the Terra back.

Terra Neon had suffered even more than most other Terras, having no Sky Knight to defend it. As such, any resistance was practically nonexistent when the Covenant steam-rolled through the amusement park. Banshee air strikes and Wraith plasma mortars tore the rides into piles of molten metal while the people visiting ran screaming in fear as they were either killed or driven off. Unlike Gale, once the Terra had been torn apart, the Covenant left, leaving only death and destruction in their wake.

The former Talon Academy had been shown little mercy as Banshee air raids were only the precursor to the ground assault. Screams of students as they ran from the heavily armed alien threat, who were laughing as they cut down everyone they could find.

The Screaming Queens were the defending squadron of Amazonia as the Covenant came after them next. Like the other Terras, Banshees flew in first, striking the civilian population and distracting the Sky Knight of the Terra while the Phantoms deployed infantry and vehicles to ravage the villages in the Kingdom. When many settlements had been abandoned, the Covenant deployed Anti-air Wraiths to help keep the skies clear, securing their air superiority over the second-largest Terra on Atmos.

Aquanos only suffered from Banshee air raids due to their terrain being rather unsuitable for ground attacks, but the Aquanos shipyards had been heavily damaged by the raids. Though there seemed to be a number of Banshees that flew over the water, as if they were scanning for something, though this went unnoticed by the vast majority of the inhabitants as they ran from the explosions around them.

Several smaller Terras also only suffered from Banshee air raids, as the SkySide Shanty and the rebuilt restaurant at the airship stopover Wayside were all but destroyed by the alien aircraft, while the airships were destroyed as they tried to flee.

Little did anyone know that the worst was yet to come.

* * *

The ruins of Cyclonia was the location that was most heavily attacked. The massive bulk of the _Intention's Eye_ was leading the Covenant charge, showing absolutely no mercy to the previous inhabitants.

Despite the Terra's fall prior to Master Cyclonis' retreat to the Far Side, many Talons had still made the ruins their home, if for no other reason than they had nowhere else to go. For most of them, Cyclonia was the only home they knew, and they would defend it with their lives. For many of the remaining Cyclonians, that would be their only choice today.

As soon as the Carrier had arrived, most of the Cyclonians had retreated, joining their Master's forces on the Far Side, but some had been left behind, either because they were too slow, or because they had volunteered to hold off the enroaching Covenant.

Now, most were regretting being left behind as they gazed up at the 5.3 kilometer long warship, which stood out like a spectre of death among the red sky.

To call the ensuing conflict a battle would be an insult to the much more advanced and ruthless nature of the Covenant. It was a massacre. The Banshee screen was more than enough to deal with the remaining Talon skimmers and Night Crawlers, while the _Eye _itself tore the remaining Cyclonian destroyers to pieces.

There were a few Cyclonian airbases built into the nearby cliffs. They were quickly reduced to glass by the _Eye's_ plasma turrets, along with any remaining Talons or Night Crawlers vaporized within.

With such destruction, it didn't take long for the remaining Cyclonians to realize the folly of staying to defend the wreckage of their home. They fled the area, being chased away by the swarm of Banshees as they made for safer territory.

Few Talons or Night Crawlers made it.

With the Cyclonians dead or retreating, the forces of the Assault Carrier began salvaging all they could from the ruins of Cyclonia, with the scavengers being led by Brutes but consisting of mainly Grunts, Jackals and Drones.

Unfortunately, their enemies had already picked most of Cyclonia clean, leaving barely anything remaining. All that was left were some scattered crystals, equipment and survivors and creatures that had made their home in the ruins, the latter two were wiped out by the Covenant search parties.

One report found something interesting: A large black monstrosity with green eyes and lights emerging from it was found in a cage. When some Unggoy approached it, they were torn to ribbons by the monster, which was then killed by a pack of Jiralhanae armed with heavy weaponry.

...

On the bridge of the _Eye, _Makterbus approached Laccabeus, who sat on his grav throne as the reports of the salvage teams came back negative. The lesser Chieftain had been directing the multiple attacks on the rest of the Terras while Laccabeus had been preoccupied with the Cyclonians.

Of course, thanks to the prisoners that had been taken during each raid, they had learned a little more about the workings of this world, something which pleased Laccabeus to hear. Now it was time for Makterbus to give his latest news.

"Report." The Shipmaster said. Makterbus bowed his head.

"We have scoured the remaining Terras, but we have found no trace of our enemies. It seems they retreated to this 'Far Side' as the inhabitants call it."

Laccabeus was silent for a long moment, then he nodded. "Have our forces take the territory for our own. Do not engage the inhabitants unless they attack first."

"Is that wise?" Makterbus responded. "They are likely to attack us again."

"We have no choice." The Shipmaster said. "Our primary target is still the First Order."

"The people will still attempt to rebel." The lesser Chieftain protested. "As humans are prone to do."

"Then we will show them why that is a mistake."

"And what of Cyclonia?" The lesser Chieftain asked. Laccabeus smiled wickedly, causing his subordinate to smile as he realized what would happen next.

"Burn it."

...

With the order given, the Phantoms that had deployed the scavengers recalled all their forces before heading back to the carrier's main hanger bay. The Banshees quickly followed, retreating to the safety of their mother ship.

Once that was done, a swirl of purple energy appeared on the underside of the ship before the _Intention's Eye_ opened fire on the remains of Cyclonia with the underside energy projector, boiling away everything metal and rock on the fallen Terra. Soon, all that remained of the heart of the Cyclonian Empire was a large firestorm that would slowly cool into a brittle layer of a glass-like substance.

* * *

Miles away, a single black Viper probe droid watched as the destruction unfolded, transmitting the image to the Far Side, straight into the heart of Cyclonis' throne room. The young dictator watched the events with a barely contained fury.

She had already watched as her Terra had fallen due to the actions of the Storm Hawks. Now, as if to add insult to injury, these Covenant had picked the remains of her home clean before burning the rest.

Enraged, she blasted the screen with an energy bolt fired from her staff, shattering it into several pieces before glaring at the new troop leaders and the second in command that the First Order had provided her.

"We had a deal!" She snapped. "You would help me take over Atmos, and in exchange, my world would be yours to use as your headquarters. And yet you ran from Cyclonia's triumph!"

Their leader Snoke was present via hologram and despite his age, gave off an aura of deadliness. According to him, he had been trained by Darth Vader as an assassin alongside Ennix Devian, and was apparently skilled enough to take on Jedi and win. Cyclonis was unsure what any of that meant, but it was supposed to be impressive.

Still, she had seen what this 'Force' as it was called was capable of in the hands of the Sith Vestara Khai. A young woman with tattoos around her eyes and a small scar on the side of her mouth that gave her the constant appearance of a smirk. She had already proven to be a superior combatant to the Dark Ace, having soundly defeated Aerrow, who only survived due to Piper's control of the Binding and the interference of those Republic agents.

Senior Captain Hux was also present by hologram. In contrast to Snoke, he was fairly young, with red hair and a rather striking face. The head of the First Order's naval forces, he had technically been grounded when the Republic agents had managed to infiltrate the First Order's Star Destroyer and bring it down earlier.

Also in the room was Captain Phasma, the leader of the First Order's ground forces. She was clad in a variant of Shadow Trooper armor, which was silver in color and supposedly made of starship grade alloy. Phasma was the one who was personally responsible for the training of the First Order's Shadow Troopers, Terror Troopers and Storm Commandos.

"Master Cyclonis," Snoke started. "With all due respect, you have no idea what these beasts are capable of."

Cyclonis' responding glare could have frozen an atom in its tracks. "Then enlighten me."


	2. Squadron Logs: Part 1

Squadron Log.

_It's hard to believe that we've been in the Far Side for nearly a year now. Ever since we followed Cyclonis through the doorway, it feels like we've been on a constant exploration adventure... even more than we ever had on Atmos._

_Since our pursuit of Cyclonis, we've made new friends, met new enemies and even found a few old ones. I.J. Domiwick actually made it to the Far Side, if you can believe it. Apparently, his trip through the underwater caverns paid off, though not for very long. He's currently in a holding cell in one of the friendly cities to us, for allying with Cyclonis and disturbing several culturally significant locations._

_Speaking of her, she and her Night Crawlers have been retreating after we foiled her latest plan to conquer the Far Side. We have a fix on her most likely location thanks to a strange signal she sent across the planet (though we're still not sure who she sent it to or why). Hopefully, when we find her, we'll be able to put a stop to her evil for good._

* * *

"Piper?"

The Navigator in question looked up from her journal at the voice behind her. Turning, she smiled when she it was Aerrow leaning against her doorway. He smiled back and walked into her room, closing the door behind him.

"What are you working on?"

Her smile turned into a smirk at his small talk. She knew the real reason he was here (after all, she had invited him), but the fact that he was beating around the bush meant that someone was still awake, Finn most likely.

"Just some more upgrades for our shield crystals." Piper replied, playing along, but also giving the truth. "I think I found a way to make the shields even stronger than before."

Aerrow nodded in understanding. Ever since they arrived in the Far Side, their world had opened up. What had seemed rare on Atmos was basically commonplace here, including the same type of shield crystals that the Terradon scientists had developed when they fought the Dark Ace in the Suit of Untold Vengeance.

Similar crystals were in abundance here, enough that the Storm Hawks had a ready supply. And in a fight against Cyclonis' upgraded Night Crawlers, they were a massive life saver. And using these ones had the extra bonus of not having to wear those ridiculous ducks on their heads.

"Good idea." Aerrow agreed. "We'll need it if we want to take down Cyclonis."

Both of their smiles fell a little as they thought back to all the battles they had fought against Cyclonis' forces. When they followed the witch through the doorway, the Storm Hawks had known that it wouldn't be that easy to defeat her. Nevertheless, everyone of them had agreed to follow her through the doorway without hesitation (even Stork).

And it had been a long, tough journey. Even with all the allies and friends they made in the Far Side, not to mention the upgrades they and the Condor had been given, the Storm Hawks still had a hard road ahead of them if they wanted to beat the dictator for good.

But they had defeated her many times before. Cyclonis' plans had been foiled time and time again, and she was pushed back to her last remaining fortress. She wouldn't be easy to take down of course, but with Piper's new mastery of the Binding and her attunement with Aerrow, they had been able to go toe to toe with every one of Cyclonis' upgrades.

It was easy to assume victory was in reach, but the Storm Hawks had fought her long enough to know that defeating her would be anything but easy. Still, they couldn't help but feel rather hopeful about their chances.

Their musings were interrupted by the sound of the guys walking past the room. With the Condor docked and with nothing else to do, the rest of the guys were going to call it a night. Still, Piper and Aerrow waited at the door, listening until the footsteps had faded away before turning to each other.

"I think they're gone." Aerrow whispered.

"Are we done talking about work?" Piper slyly asked, one hand coming to rest on his shoulder while the other caressed his cheek.

"I'd say so." Aerrow wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled. "And I don't see any of the guys around here."

"Me neither."

In seconds, they were on each other as they kissed passionately. Piper's hands snaked down to his waist and pulled at his shirt, causing them to break apart for air. Aerrow smirked and pulled off his shirt, while Piper ran her fingers through his hair. Making sure that the door was locked, they fell back onto Piper's bed.

"I love you." Aerrow whispered.

"I love you, too." Piper said.

...

Outside, Stork and Finn rolled their eyes as they walked past Aerrow's empty room. They knew exactly what Aerrow and Piper were doing. The rest of the Storm Hawks had known about their relationship, even as the couple tried to keep it a secret. Still, they were willing to give the two of them their privacy.

...

Cyclonis walked into the lab of her fortress, where two Night Crawlers were making sure that the robot they found was still in restraints. They had found it a few miles away from her palace and had it brought here for study. It took some effort, that's for sure; when confronted, the vaguely insectoid machine fired some sort of energy bolts at the Night Crawlers.

The hovering machine managed to fight off the Night Crawlers sent to retrieve it, only to be shut down when Cyclonis herself sent a crystal pulse that temporarily disabled the machine's inner workings, long enough to take it back to her lab.

When they brought it back and took it apart, they were surprised to find that nothing within ran on crystals at all. Then she noticed the communication device, one that was far more advanced than anything on Atmos, and with the frequency to reach far beyond the world.

It took some time to get it working again, but when she did, she managed to backtrack the signal to its source, albeit at the cost of a lot of crystal power and with the need to broadcast the signal that could be detected by the Far Side (though no one actually knew what it said). But it was worth it: When Cyclonis made contact with the owners of this machine, she knew that her dominion over Atmos was now within reach.

* * *

Squadron Log

_I can't believe how things could go so wrong so quickly. Ever since Cyclonis sent that signal out, things have taken a turn for the worst. It started with a meteor. We went to investigate and found this strange robot that nearly killed Finn._

...

"C'mon guys." Piper called, looking at her scanner. "The readings say that the impact site is nearby."

"Why are we looking for a meteor anyway?" Finn asked. Piper rolled her eyes.

"Because," She drawled. "It came after Cyclonis sent that signal. Not to mention the strange energy signatures we detected."

"You think Cyclonis is trying to make another Exopod?" Aerrow questioned, drawing looks of concern.

And for good reason. Over a year ago, Cyclonis had Ravess build a battle platform in the Stratosphere, all with the intent of launching a satellite mounted energy blaster into orbit. The Exopod would've been able to destroy dozens of Terras with ease, had the Storm Hawks not been there to stop it.

Still, with her dwindling allies and resources, it seemed unlikely that Cyclonis could do it again. And even if she was trying to, the fact that a meteor hit the ground indicated that she wasn't having much luck.

"There's only one way to find out." She replied.

Soon, the Storm Hawks reached the impact site, and parked their skimmers just beyond the crater. Inside, they found black pieces of the shattered meteorite spread all over the crater, but the bulk of it was nowhere to be seen.

"Well it was made of metal." Junko confirmed, tapping a piece broken 'meteorite' with a clang. "And it looks like there was something inside it."

A short distance away, Aerrow came across something unusual.

"I got footprints." Aerrow said. "Really big ones. And it looks like they just came from the meteor."

"Someone was in the meteor?" Finn said.

"Someone, or something." Piper muttered.

"Whatever it was, we need to find it." Aerrow declared.

With their weapons out, the Storm Hawks followed the trail left by their mysterious newcomer until the tracks just vanished. The wind hadn't swept through the desert for a while, so whatever made these tracks shouldn't have gone too far.

"What do we do now?" Junko asked. Before anyone could answer, something burst out of the sand behind them.

"What the heck is that?!" Finn screeched.

The figure was huge, with a relatively skeletal physique and armored body. Mechanical parts could be seen, indicating that it was robotic, with a small blade jutting out of one wrist and a small shield from the other. Its head held few defining features, save the glowing red eyes.

With a start, Finn fired on the machine, only for it to raise its shield and block the bolt, all while moving far faster than any living being. The robot lunged and in seconds, it was on him, cutting through Finn's crossbow like it was made of tissue paper, causing the blond to fall back.

The creature raised its sword for the killing blow, only for it to be intercepted by Aerrow's daggers. The Sky Knight held the bladelock for a second before the other arm lashed out, bashing the redhead aside with its shield.

Junko made his move, leaping forward with a battle cry and punching with all his might. The robot was thrown back a foot, but landed on its feet and rushed forward again, this time shoulder charging Junko and sending the Wallop flying.

The machine turned to Piper as she began glowing with blue energy. The robot lunged forward as Piper blasted it, sending the automaton flying into its crater. For a long moment, there was silence. Then Junko spoke.

"Did we get it?"

"Everyone move up." Aerrow ordered. "We gotta make sure this thing is down."

Cautiously, the Hawks moved up to the crater, only to find that the droid was nowhere in sight.

"So, did we win?" Finn asked.

At that moment, the machine emerged from the sand behind the blond sharpshooter, reaching for him with one hand and causing him to scream like a little girl. With one hand, the robot grabbed him, while holding its blade to his neck.

It was a standoff and everyone knew it. The machine was quick enough to bury its blade through Finn's neck before anyone could get to them. At least, anyone of them moving at a normal pace. Catching Piper's eye, Aerrow gave a slight nod. The crystal mage nodded back.

"Speed of Light!"

With Piper's enhancement, Aerrow was more than a match for this thing's speed. Teleporting behind the droid, Aerrow fired a blast into its back, causing the machine to stumble forward and drop Finn.

Spinning around, the machine lunged at Aerrow, only for the Sky Knight to vanish behind it. With another burst of speed, Aerrow rammed his daggers into the robot's back, only to find that his crystal-infused energy blades rebounded off the thing's armor. Off balance, Aerrow stumbled, allowing the machine to hit him again.

The droid was ready to press its attack, when suddenly, a powerful energy blast struck the automaton's back, this time being enough to bisect it. Everyone turned to Piper, who was glowing blue and holding an energy crystal outstretched in one hand.

"Great job, Piper." Aerrow said, causing the Crystal Mage to smile.

Before anyone else could compliment her, a mechanical sound drew their attention once more. The machine's upper half was crawling its way through the sand, dragging itself on one hand.

"Oh come on! What does it take to beat this thing?!" Finn said, incredulous.

With another battle cry, Junko activated his Knuckle Busters, before leaping forward and putting his fist through the machine's chest. That was finally enough to do the robot in, as the red lights slowly faded from its eyes. Junko pulled his hand out of the robot's innards, before shaking his fist in pain.

For a long moment, the Storm Hawks were silent, then they all breathed a sigh of relief as it became clear that the robot was finally inert. Aerrow walked up to the husk, looking over the wreckage.

"What is this thing?" He murmured.

"No idea." Piper responded, coming up beside him. "This is far beyond anything I've ever seen."

"Maybe Stork might know?" Finn suggested. "He's always going on about stuff like this."

"There a lot of people we could ask." Piper replied. "The problem is, this is definitely not like any tech on Atmos."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to get another opinion." Aerrow said. "Junko, load this thing up, we'll take it with us."

...

"I have no idea what this thing is." Stork said. "And no one else does either."

Once back on the Condor, the Storm Hawks let their helmsman take a look at the machine they had brought back with them. But even with their new technological contacts, no one could identify what it was or who built it.

"No one?" Aerrow said incredulously. Radarr screeched a negative.

"The only thing I can determine is that it doesn't use any crystals in its operation." The Merbian said.

"B-but, that's impossible!" Piper protested, gesturing to the inert machine. "Nothing on Atmos works without crystals. At least nothing this advanced."

"But is it from Atmos?" Stork exclaimed excitedly, to the confusion of the Hawks. "You said you found this thing near a metal meteor?"

"Yeah, and it looked like something was inside it..." Aerrow trailed off as the implications became clear.

"You can't be serious." Finn exclaimed. "You think aliens built this thing?!"

"Probably as a scout to an invasion." Stork agreed, sounding both terrified, and yet a little excited.

"As weird as it is, I think Stork might be right." Piper reluctantly agreed, looking over the robot with her crystal scanner. "This metal is far stronger than anything on Atmos. I'm actually amazed Junko was able to damage it at all."

Behind them, Junko looked at his fist, which had been bruised even with the defense of his Knuckle Busters. "Yeah, it really hurt."

"So, we've got a potentially alien robot which was hostile at first contact, and it only appeared after Cyclonis sent that signal." Aerrow summed up the situation. "That can't be a coincidence."

"Great, Cyclonis allied with aliens." Finn deadpanned. "How else could she get any worse?!"

"We don't know that for sure." Piper interjected. "Besides, even if it was from space, it could just be an isolated incident."

It was then that Junko looked through the bridge window and noticed a streak of light in the sky. "Hey look!" He pointed up, drawing the rest of the squadron's attention. To their shock and horror, a dozen meteors all fell to the ground, landing in distant regions of the Far Side. Several of them landed in multiple cities.

"So much for an isolated incident." The Merbian helmsman sighed, as several distress calls started filtering through the Condor's radio channels.

"Battle stations!" Aerrow ordered. "Finn get on the radio, see which distress call is closest. Junko, get on the guns. We need to be ready for anything."

"Um, Aerrow," Piper interrupted, drawing the Sky Knight's attention.

"We may have... a small problem." Stork finished for Piper as the other four looked through the windows.

To the further shock of the Storm Hawks, they saw dozens of unknown fighter craft descending in from the upper atmosphere, followed by an approximately 150 meter long arrow shaped vessel.

* * *

_Since then, more and more of these strange armored soldiers and robots have shown up, calling themselves the First Order. They've allied themselves with Cyclonis, bringing with them technology unseen even on the Far Side! The really strange thing about their tech is that it doesn't use crystals to work. Everyone's looking to me for answers, but I'm just as in the dark as everyone else. I've never seen anything like this, nor have any of us seen such cruelty before. Since the First Order arrived, they've cut a swath through the settlements of the Far Side, with only a few capable of resisting them._

_What's horrifying is what happens to those in the settlements that Cyclonis' new mercenaries have conquered. Anyone who tries to rebel is forced to watch as their whole family is executed, before they suffer a very painful and public death. And they're often the lucky ones. Even with our new upgrades, including advanced shield crystals, we can barely hold our own, and it's often only Aerrow and I using the Binding that we have a fighting chance at all. The rest of our friends aren't doing much better, and Far Side tech barely seem to hold their own._

_But the most mind-blowing thing about these guys is the fact that they apparently came from outer space. From what we've seen, they're all human, so we're missing something in this puzzle, which either means humans left Atmos long ago, or... something else._

_Either way, we need to find a way to stop Cyclonis and her new allies soon, or there won't be anyone left to challenge her at all._


	3. Assault on Atmosia

Terra Tropica had always been regarded as one of the best vacation spots on Atmos. The entire Terra was basically a small ocean with tropical islands contained within. Barring the rare tsunami, nothing much happened on the Terra.

That all changed when the door to the Far Side was discovered; the Cyclonians had taken it back under Master Cyclonis' order, leaving a detachment to search the temple for clues, but never finding anything.

Then that changed when the Covenant had taken over the Terra as their main base, having discovered a hidden sublevel of the temple containing more doors. With that in mind, and combined with the Terra's isolation, the invading aliens had chosen to make Tropica as their new base.

Now, the massive bulk of the _Intention's Eye _hung over the largest island, disgorging hundreds of troops, vehicles and supplies down to the newly constructed camp. Artillery was being set up to defend their new base as aircraft flitted to and from the assault carrier.

Inside the bridge, Shipmaster Laccabeus watched as construction proceeded on schedule, while the excavation forces continued their sweep for more doors to the Far Side. It seemed that this would be their only way to find the First Order.

"Status report." Laccabeus ordered.

"Our forces are holding onto their locations." His second in command reported. "Hit and run raids from the inhabitants have been made, but casualties to our side have been minimal."

"And what of the temple?" The High-Chieftain asked.

"We still have nine doors." Makterbus reported. "But we are no closer to unlocking them."

That was disappointing. Laccabeus had initially sent a scouting squadron over the barrier cliffs of Atmos, having intended to just fly over, but they were all shot down by First Order AA. Scans from the sortie had shown that the heavy weapons emplacements were somehow drawing quite a lot of power, enough to potentially damage the _Eye's _shields.

In all likelihood, the Carrier could weather the storm and pound the First Order to dust, but the ship would almost certainly take too much damage and be rendered unusable, leaving them stranded on this rock.

No, the best thing to do was a fast surgical strike against the First Order, but to do that, the Covenant needed to find a way to them. Putting aside that train of thought for the time being, Laccabeus shifted his focus to the other problem.

"What of the inhabitants?" He asked.

"Interrogations have indicated that they will attempt to fight back, though considering what we did to Cyclonia, that may take some time."

"If we are to be victorious against the First Order, then we must be sure that they cannot rally the inhabitants against us." The Shipmaster stated. "A single savage strike should demoralize the populace enough to insure our victory."

"The prisoners have indicated that Atmosia is where any resistance will be started." Makterbus replied. "If we want to demoralize them and take out their defenders, then we need to strike there."

"Very well." Laccabeus stood up from his chair. "Prepare my Lich. I will lead the attack myself."

* * *

In the main hall of Atmosia, the remaining Sky Knights had gathered to discuss what had happened with the Sky Knight council. Starling was present, alongside the Storm Hawks, Wren, Dove and the Rebel Ducks, the Third Degree Burners, the Terradon scientists, the Screaming Queens, Triton and the Neck Deeps, and the remaining Squadrons of the Absolute Zeros and the Rex Guardians, who were noticeably missing their Sky Knights.

Also present was Hunter, one of the superpowered Republic agents that had initially arrived to aid the populace against the First Order. He and his partner, MK had also been the main source of information on the Imperial splinter group, and now it seemed that they were the main source of intel on the Covenant as well.

He had joined up with the Storm Hawks during the battle for Atmos, while MK had taken their ship, the _Rogue Shadow, _back to the Far Side to help coordinate resistance to keep Cyclonis and her forces off balance. Now, that had changed when the Covenant arrived, causing the First Order to return and forcing their resistance to come to a halt.

Thanks to technology provided by Hunter, MK was present by hologram, as were their allies among the Far Side. They were mainly there to listen and confirm the movements of the First Order and how they were reacting to the Covenant.

Now though, the Storm Hawks and the Republic agents were explaining exactly what the Covenant wanted and why and how they were in conflict with the First Order. Once the story was finished, everyone looked at them in a stunned state of disbelief.

"So, just to be clear," Wren stated. "These aliens, these Covenant are in conflict due to what is essentially a minor insult by the First Order?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Hunter confirmed.

"And they are perfectly willing to destroy Atmos in the process?" Dove continued.

"Yep." MK drawled.

Everyone turned to look at the Storm Hawks.

"Yeah, we know." Piper sighed. "This all sounds so crazy."

"What we need is to strike back." Aerrow said, getting the meeting back on topic. "Show the Covenant that we will not quietly cower in front of them."

"That's easier said than done." Starling replied. "They've taken over several Terras and completely leveled many others. We've lost a lot of people, not to mention we still have several Sky Knights missing in action." Several heads bowed at that thought.

"But we still have the shipyards." Triton interjected. "We've managed to repair some of the damage caused earlier. And with help from the Terradons, and technology from the Far Side, we can build a fleet large enough to take back our Terras."

"That won't exactly help you." MK interrupted. "You're dealing with rather genocidal aliens, equipped with technology far more advanced than anything on Atmos. An attack like that will just invite more Terras to suffer the same fate as Cyclonia."

"So, what? You're saying we should just let them do what they want?" Starling said.

"We never said that," Hunter quickly stated. "But your best bet right now is for the First Order and Covenant to wear each other down."

This started a large argument among the Sky Knights as different opinions were raised about what should be done. Some wanted to launch an assault against the Covenant in a manner similar to their battle against the Cyclonians. Others were more willing to wait it out and let the two opposing forces deal with each other.

Aerrow in particular was divided on what should be done. On one hand, he was never the type of person to shy away from a fight, but on the other hand, having seen what both the First Order and the Covenant were capable of, throwing themselves at the invading extraterrestrials seemed like a rather suicidal idea.

The arguing continued for a bit before a cross between a gunshot and a high pitched whine permeated the room. Everyone fell silent and turned to look at Hunter, who had his sidearm pointed at the ceiling, which now had a small blackened hole in it.

"Do I have your attention now?" When no one spoke, the Republic agent put his sidearm away and started pacing. "You have one advantage against the Covenant;" He continued. "They don't consider you to be a threat, merely an annoyance in comparison to the First Order. These attacks were mainly meant to demoralize you, to convince you that you have no hope of beating them."

"If they're as advanced as you claim, then how can we?" Blister pointed out. "We've already seen what they've done to Cyclonia, so what can we do to stop them?"

"Technology is not always key to victory." MK responded. "The Galactic Empire, the government that the First Order is trying to be? They had the same advanced tech as the First Order, but their best troops were ultimately defeated by primitives using rocks and spears."

"And I should mention that those primitives were essentially four-foot tall teddy bears." Hunter said, to the confusion of everyone else.

"The point is, you can win this." MK continued. "You'll just have to use your knowledge of the world to your advantage."

"So, what?" Blister growled. "We're just supposed to hit and run and let these invaders rampage through our Terras?"

"Well, if you guys are packing a weapon capable of bringing down an assault carrier in one shot, now's the time to bring it out." Hunter retorted. "Otherwise, a guerrila campaign is your best bet."

At that moment, the argument was halted by a wailing sound that permeated the air of the hall. The assembled Sky Knights and their respective squadrons looked around in confusion, while Hunter and MK felt a growing sense of dread.

"What is that?" Starling questioned. Looking through the window, Hunter activated his armor as the source of the noise burst through the clouds.

"Banshees!" Hunter yelled. "Take cover!"

The Sky Knights heeded the warning as the purple alien attack craft strafed the building, blasting holes in the walls and ceiling. Aerrow could feel the extreme heat of the plasma bolts even from the near misses as he dove aside. Once the Banshees had passed, the Storm Hawks rose and exited the hall to see the destruction that had been caused to the rest of the town.

It wasn't a pretty sight. The nearby buildings had been scarred by plasma fire, one of which had collapsed from a fuel rod explosion. Further onwards, the team could hear the sounds of screaming as the Banshee's signature wailing made its way through the Atmosian streets.

"Everyone get to your Skimmers!" Aerrow shouted. "We need to draw their attention away from the people."

As the Sky Knights rushed to their vehicles, Hunter stood his ground, knowing that the Banshee airstrikes were mainly nothing more than a distraction. It was one of Laccabeus' favourite tactics, especially when dealing with a mostly civilian population: Air raids to blitz the defenders and sow chaos, while Phantoms laden with infantry and occasional ground vehicles would slaughter their way through the rest of the opposition.

The signature sound of approaching Phantoms confirmed that, as the Republic agent turned towards the source. Three of the Covenant dropships approached the outskirts of the town, where the hatches opened and disgorged infantry onto the ground.

The rest of the populace was too busy either hiding or avoiding the plasma fire and fuel rod explosions from the overhead Banshees or the small arms fire of the ground bound infantry. Fortunately for them, the Sky Knights were drawing the Banshees away; unfortunately for the Sky Knights, they were now the targets for the Covenant fliers.

The battle devolved into a savage dogfight, as the Sky Knights kept trying to knock the Banshees out of the sky, while the Covenant aircraft attempted to return the favor. Some Covenant were shot down, with the Storm Hawks in particular having the most luck at that, but more skimmers were shot down as well.

Then a larger and deeper hum appeared among the background noise, unnoticed by the Sky Knights in battle. That changed when a large purple aircraft, more than twice the size of a Phantom, appeared from the clouds.

"He's here."

The _Intention's Eye _only had a single modified Lich in its complement. To see it on the battlefield like this meant only one thing: Laccabeus himself was personally leading the attack on Atmosia.

Still, there was only one thing Hunter could do at the moment; Make sure the Covenant infantry suffered in their advance to the center of Atmosia. Knowing that MK was on her way, Hunter pulled the Needler shotgun from his back, activated his cloaking device and vanished into the streets. He'd come across Laccabeus soon enough.

* * *

Up in the air, the combined forces of Atmos' Sky Knights attempted to take down the large aircraft, but the surrounding Banshees put an end to that train of thought as the dogfight continued anew.

Meanwhile, the Lich came to a brief hover over the town square, deploying soldiers from the purple gravity lift. Once the troops had been deposited, they formed a perimeter and waited as their leader came down with them. Landing in the center of the square, Laccabeus looked around at the devastation and smirked. Looking at the tower, the Shipmaster activated his comm and spoke to the crew of the aircraft above him.

"Target the Beacon tower! Bring it down!"

Plasma bolts emerged from the side of the Lich sending the surrounding skimmers into further evasive maneuvers as Laccabeus personal guard tried to bring the Sky Knights down. Meanwhile, the Lich's main gun charged and fired, sending a green stream of energy scything through the Beacon tower and causing it to crash in the ground, disabling the beacon and the Time Pulse.

Laccabeus smirked as he saw the inhabitants running, most of which were being chased down by Covenant forces. This was all too easy. Still, there were reports of resistance, but those would be crushed in due time.

The Shipmaster's smirk turned into a frown when one report came back to him. It was about how a lance of Elites had apparently been taken down by something cloaked. What's more, it appeared that something had shorted out their armor and shields, or in one case, been blown apart by a Needler.

Now, Laccabeus knew that the crystals the inhabitants used were capable of doing such feats (and that someone could've just taken a Needler off of a corpse). But something about this felt familiar. And if he was right...

Just to be on the safe side, Laccabeus sent a signal to the Phantoms containing his contingency and told them to be ready. Then, the Shipmaster returned to directing the battle, suppressing a laugh when he saw a Hunter smack a heliscooter aside, turning the rider into a pulp.

* * *

With his skimmer being flown by Radarr, Aerrow leapt off, landing on the nearest Banshee, to the surprise of the pilot if the confused growl was anything to go by. Drawing his blades, Aerrow remembered what Hunter told him about a Banshee's weak spots, and slashed at the anti-gravity pods at the rear of the aircraft.

The sparking engines coughed and died, causing the Covenant aircraft to take a nose dive towards the Wastelands. Aerrow leapt off and repeated the same move to another Banshee, before falling and getting caught by Radarr, who as usual, had been waiting for the Sky Knight to do exactly that.

Through their connection, Aerrow turned to see Piper riding her heliscooter while being pursued by four Banshees. Suddenly, she began glowing with power, before unleashing a shockwave which disabled the alien aircraft. Still, more were coming and Atmosia couldn't hold them off forever.

"Aerrow, we need a plan." Piper said, as if reading his mind (which, thanks to their attunement, she technically was). "We can't hold these guys off forever."

"What we need a distraction." Aerrow said. "Something to draw the Covenant's attention."

"Like what?" Finn asked, coming up alongside the other two. "We're not exactly equipped to deal with something like this."

Then Aerrow noticed a gathering of Jiralhanae and Sangheili on the ground, though one Brute in particular stood out. He was clad in red and black armor with a touch of gold mixed in, wearing a gravity hammer on his back. Occasionally he gestured in some direction or barked an order, and one of the aliens would leave to follow the command. But Aerrow easily recognized him as someone Hunter had shown a hologram of. It was Shipmaster Laccabeus, commander of the _Intention's Eye _and its crew.

"Maybe we can appeal to their leadership." He said, pointing towards the Shipmaster. "Didn't Hunter and MK say he can't resist a one on one fight?"

"You want to take on that guy?!" Finn asked incredulously. "Have you lost your mind?!" Radarr screeched in agreement.

"Finn's got a point." Piper agreed. "Aerrow, he's three times your size, and even if you win, Hunter said he's not likely to keep any agreement you make with him."

"He doesn't have to." The Sky Knight pointed out. "We just have to keep his attention long enough to get the civilians out of here."

"Alright," Piper sighed. "But I'm staying close by, just in case."

"I'll be fine." Aerrow said, moving closer to Piper and grabbing her hand.

Finn would've said something about the two of them being lovebirds, but a plasma bolt striking the shield from his shield crystal put that piece of bad humor to bed. Releasing Piper's hand, Aerrow and Piper headed down towards Atmosia's surface while Finn drew the pursuing Banshee away.

"Why does this always happen to me?"

Hoping that his teammate would be alright, Aerrow made a break for Laccabeus, with Piper moving into concealment with a cloaking crystal. With Radarr taking over his skimmer, the red haired Sky Knight leapt off.

Deploying the wings on his back, Aerrow flew down towards the gathering of Covenant, drawing his blades and landing in front of their leader. Surprised at his entrance, the Covenant forces pointed their weapons at him, only for them to back off at the Chieftain's command.

"Well, well." Laccabeus snorted. "You're a brave one, aren't you?"

"Take me to your leader." Aerrow stated sarcastically, to the amusement of the Chieftain.

"You're looking at him." The Brute responded. "I am Shipmaster Laccabeus, and I assume you're here to surrender?"

"Surrender?" The Sky Knight repeated. "No. I have a challenge for you."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"A duel, you and me, buddy." Aerrow said. "For the fate of Atmosia."

Aerrow didn't actually believe that Laccabeus would honor any sort of agreement they made, but the longer they stalled the Shipmaster, the more time it gave the other Sky Knights to get everyone else out of the Covenant's range.

"Very well." The Shipmaster said, eliciting chuckles from the surrounding Covenant. "I will play your game, little one. This will be a short fight."

"Huh, didn't think you'd be so willing to know you'd be defeated."

"Don't get cocky, child." Laccabeus sneered. "I eat whelps like you for breakfast."

As Aerrow looked up at the massive alien, he had to remind himself that that probably wasn't hyperbole. The Chieftain then gestured to the Pack of Brutes around him, who held back at their leader's command.

"When I am done, the Pack will feast on your flesh!"

"Bring it on!"

With a loud roar, Laccabeus charged at Aerrow, who nimbly leapt over the Chieftain and landed on top of him, briefly causing the Jiralhanae to stumble. Capitalizing on that, Aerrow leapt off with all his might, which unbalanced the Brute even more, before firing an energy blast from his daggers while in midair.

The Chieftain's shield dropped quite a bit, to his shock; previous energy blasts like that had only marginal effectiveness, but the Striker crystals in Aerrow's blades had been enhanced on the Far Side, increasing their power beyond most weapons in Atmosia.

Nonetheless, the energy barrier held, and the Brute barked out a laugh. This child was a strong one, that much was certain, and a skilled warrior as well. Now having a measure of his opponent, the Chieftain advanced at a more cautious pace.

"You have talent, boy." Laccabeus complimented.

"I'm just getting started!"

Aerrow leapt back as Laccabeus sent a shockwave from his hammer at him. The Chieftain grinned sadistically as he charged forward and swung his hammer in a side motion, only for Aerrow to nimbly leap out of the way, again.

On and on the battle went, with Aerrow primarily avoiding the Jiralhanae's strikes in the hopes of tiring him out, while occasionally getting some blows of his own that managed to marginally drain his shields.

The distraction seemed to be working as more and more Covenant warriors appeared to watch the battle. Meanwhile, sounds of battle were slowly decreasing as it moved elsewhere, allowing evacuation ships to leave the Terra, the Condor among them.

Refusing to be distracted himself, Aerrow turned his attention back to the fight just in time to avoid another strike from Laccabeus. Unfortunately, the Sky Knight could feel himself getting tired: Laccabeus clearly had the stamina to outlast him, and one good blow from the Chieftain would turn the Sky Knight into a smear on the pavement.

He needed to end this and quickly. Putting some distance between him and the Shipmaster, Aerrow pulled out a disrupter device given to him by Hunter and MK. It had the capability to drain the shields of Brute and Elite armor systems, so it would likely work on Laccabeus as well.

Tossing the device at the Chieftain, Aerrow was gratified to see the energy wave halt him in his tracks. He was further gratified to see that his armor was sparking, which meant Laccabeus was now vulnerable.

With his blades at the ready, Aerrow leapt into the air and unleashed the Eagle Claw, having enhanced it's power while in the Far Side. The blast struck the shieldless Chieftain, only for a glowing green/white aura to appear around his armor, dissipating Aerrow's blast completely.

"A good trick." Laccabeus complimented. "But as you can see, I have a trick of my own."

Stunned, Aerrow was almost too late to move, as he leapt out of the way of Laccabeus' following blow. The hammer missed him by centimeters, but he was too close and was caught up in the gravity shockwave. Flying through the air, Aerrow hit the ground hard. Dazed, he was unable to react while Laccabeus slowly approached, lifting his gravity hammer for the killing blow.

"Titan's Might!"

Piper's Binding spell instantly rejuvenated him, and increased his strength, allowing him to catch the Gravity hammer in mid-swing, to the complete shock of the Brutes. With ease, he ripped the hammer out of the Brute's grasp, before unleashing a shockwave that sent Laccabeus flying.

"Well, this is interesting." The Shipmaster said as he dusted himself off from the shockwave. "I haven't seen power like this in a while."

Piper slowly floated down to the ground behind Aerrow, covered in a glowing blue aura. "You'll find we're just full of surprises!"

"Most impressive." Laccabeus smirked, then gestured to his troops and pointed at the glowing blue figure of Piper. "Target the girl!"

At his command, there was a hailstorm of plasma bolts, Needler shards, spikes, carbine rounds, Brute shot explosives, grenades, fuel rods and more. All of which was aimed at Piper. The Crystal Mage raised a barrier around herself, but she was clearly feeling the strain, and the energy of that much Covenant fire forced her back towards a two story building, which bore structural damage from the Covenant strike.

"Bring the building down!" Laccabeus ordered.

In response, the nearby Lich opened fire with its focus cannon, cutting over Piper's head and causing the weakened structure to collapse. Right on top of her. The Crystal Mage barely had time to scream before the structure collapsed on her.

"Piper!" Aerrow shouted, turning to see his soul mate lying under a ton of masonry.

His distraction cost him. Laccabeus grabbed the pommel of his hammer and used it to strike Aerrow in the face. With his own power gone, the Sky Knight was sent flying, hitting a wall.

Dazed, the Sky Knight struggled to his feet, only for Laccabeus to 'gently' kick him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. Smirking, the Jiralhanae loomed over him, hammer at the ready.

"You have spirit, little one." The Shipmaster stated, raising his hammer overhead. "Your death will be quick."

Before the Shipmaster could bring the Hammer down, he was struck by two bolts of lightning, which utterly drained his shields and caused him to stumble back. Roaring in shock, Laccabeus looked at the source to see Hunter standing there, with his fists sparking with electricity.

"Remember me?" Hunter shouted.

Snarling, the Jiralhanae unleashed a long range shockwave, only for the superhuman to leap over the distorted gravity field. Hunter fired another bolt of lightning, only for it to be intercepted by Laccabeus' disrupter field. The shields flickered, but held long enough for the Shipmaster's energy shields to recharge.

"Kill him!" Laccabeus roared.

Once again, the Covenant forces opened fire, but the experienced Republic agent was too quick, nimbly avoiding the weapons fire while sending bolts of lightning back at his attackers. Blasting forward with thrusters, the electrokinetic created an energy blade coming from one gauntlet, while holding a shotgun with the other.

At close range, the Covenant were at a disadvantage, one which Hunter did not share. He moved through the mob, firing needler buckshot with the customized shotgun or just hacking and slashing with his energy blades.

Then the Mgalekgolo appeared, and made a beeline towards Hunter. The Republic agent avoided the blows of the walking tanks, but was forced to give ground as the two Hunters focused their attack on him. As the walking tanks pointed their assault cannons at their target, they were flash frozen in a coating of ice.

Suddenly, a wall of ice appeared between him and the Covenant, as explosions of frost impacted the Covenant lines. Turning around, Hunter saw MK leaping towards the ground, firing ice blasts as she landed alongside her partner.

"What took you so long?" Hunter said as he fried a Jiralhanae Captain.

"Sorry, I got held up in traffic." MK replied as several Grunts and Jackals were frozen in their tracks.

"Where's the _Shadow_?"

In answer to Hunter's question, several Banshees exploded overhead before a jet black boxy shape flew past. The _Rogue Shadow_ was making its presence known, disabling its cloaking device and bringing the Covenant's attention to it.

"Thanks Jarvis." MK said.

"My pleasure," The AI responded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to work."

Their conversation was interrupted by a gravity shockwave, which broke a nearby ice wall and sent the Republic Agents sprawling. Laccabeus slowly walked towards the agents as they scrambled to their feet and flared their powers.

To their relief, they saw the rest of the Sky Knights heading down to the ground, the _Rogue Shadow_ having drawn away or destroyed most of the air forces above them. The tide was turning.

Even now, the rest of the Storm Hawks had arrived in the plaza and were aiding the recovered Aerrow and Piper in the fighting. Though the two of them were injured, they were in no hurry to retreat.

"It's over, Laccabeus." Hunter yelled as the their ship flew overhead, decimating the Covenant force and sending them into retreat. "You can't win."

"You think I wasn't prepared for something like this?" Laccabeus laughed.

Suddenly, several teardrop shaped fighters flew overhead at supersonic speed, aiming for the _Rogue Shadow_. Pulse lasers lanced out and hit the shields, forcing Jarvis to bring the ship away.

The arrival of the Seraphs heralded a second wave of Covenant, as eight Phantoms and several squadrons of Banshees flew towards Atmosia. Without the Republic ship to provide air support, the Sky Knights were at an extreme disadvantage.

Just as they reached striking distance, the attack force halted as Laccabeus raised his fist. The Shipmaster smiled viciously as a single Phantom flew towards him from behind, before he addressed the crowd of outgunned people.

"You have fought bravely," He said, his voice carrying throughout the area. "Which is more than what could be said of the Cyclonians. But your resistance will end now."

Behind him, the Phantom's side hatch opened, revealing a dozen Sky Knights being held captive by Covenant forces. Along with them, the guards were also holding the Colonel, Captain Scabulous, Snipe and Ravess.

All of Laccabeus' prisoners looked like they had been through hell. They were all battered and bleeding, and were almost non-responsive. Ravess in particular, had lost a lot of her haughty air, and Snipe was bruised and breathing heavily, looking ready to pass out.

"Here's the deal," The Shipmaster stated. "We leave unmolested, and you stay out of our affairs, or these people will die, followed by everyone on Atmos as we turn your Terras to glass."

Behind him, the prisoners were kicked out of the bay onto the street, into the waiting arms of the Covenant below. The Sky Knights all had their weapons out, and the Republic agents were flaring their powers, but all held their fire on seeing their comrades held hostage.

"Their fates, and the fates of those you've sworn to protect, are entirely in your hands." Laccabeus finished, his gaze briefly lingering on Hunter and MK.

There was a moment of silence, before the Republic agents shut off their powers. Following their lead, Aerrow gestured for everyone else to lower their weapons. Smirking at their choice, Laccabeus barked out an order in his own language. Everyone (except Hunter and MK) tensed up briefly, but relaxed slightly when they saw that the Covenant were beginning to withdraw.

"Wise choice." The Shipmaster said, as the Lich flew over him. "I do so hate to kill unnecessarily."

Hunter made a noise that sounded suspiciously like 'bullshit,' but otherwise said nothing as Laccabeus was pulled up to the Lich by the gravity lift. The last of the Covenant to leave were the ones guarding the prisoners, who were unceremoniously kicked out of the Covenant lines as they entered their dropships. Once they were gone, everyone started moving towards the prisoners, only to be halted by a voice.

"Wait!" MK shouted, as she and Hunter rushed to the prisoners first, to the confusion of everyone else.

That confusion changed to understanding when they saw the vests each of them was wearing, and many Sky Knights instinctively took a step back. Meanwhile, MK started scanning the devices and nodded grimly when it beeped in confirmation.

"Yeah, they're all explosives." She confirmed. "Set to be remotely detonated."

"I knew Laccabeus was being rather lenient." Hunter sighed. "He wanted to wipe out all the Sky Knights and their squadrons in one fell swoop."

"Well, can you help them?" Piper asked, worried for the survival of their friends.

"Yeah, it'll be easy enough." Hunter replied, before a hologram of a middle aged man appeared on his outstreched palm. "Jarvis, can you jam the detonation frequencies?"

"Already done, sir." The AI said. "It's safe to remove the vests, though might I recommend getting these people some medical attention?"

Hunter looked around at the devastation and death that lingered in the streets of Atmosia, before taking a good look at the surviving Sky Knights around them. Many of them were clearly suffering from severe injuries, and some of those were clearly ready to keel over. The Republic agent sighed.

"Jarvis, bring the _Shadow_ back and get the medical bay prepped and the medical drones active. I think we're going to be busy."

* * *

And they were busy. The Republic medical drones were dispatched to stabilize the more severely wounded people while the _Rogue Shadow's_ medical bay was used to heal the most critical individuals, right alongside the victims of Covenant torture.

Most of the torture victims were suffering from extreme plasma burns, no doubt due to the use of Energy swords in their interrogation. Suzy-Lu had even lost an ear, and was absolutely shocked when whatever they had done had regenerated it with absolutely no visible damage. As for the others, the Colonel, Scabulous, Snipe and Ravess were being held in a temporary prison after they were healed.

Aerrow was suffering from minor internal injuries from his fight against Laccabeus, Piper was already by his side while he was quickly healed by an advanced Nil crystal from the Far Side. As for Piper himself, she was only bruised a little bit, her power having protected her from most of the debris that had hit her. The rest of the Storm Hawks had suffered minor scrapes and burns, with Stork being the only one completely untouched.

Now, the Sky Knights, with Harrier and Suzy-Lu among them, once again met in the now bombed out central plaza, in order to discuss their next move. The atmosphere was considerably more uncertain than it had been previously, with everyone now terrified of the Covenant's ruthlessness.

"What was the point of all that?" Starling asked.

"To cause chaos." Hunter replied. "To strike fear into all of you. With that fear, Laccabeus wants to keep you from retaliating, so he can focus on the First Order."

"Well, I'd say it worked." Finn muttered, looking around at the gathered Sky Knights.

They were doubtful of their chances and scared, especially Harrier and Suzy-Lu who had suffered at the hands of the Covenant. The alien invaders had struck a blow that had cut deeply into the heart of Atmos, in a way that even Cyclonis and the First Order had been unable to achieve.

* * *

It was the same story several days later, as even now, morale in Atmosia was low. With most of the Sky Knights now headed home (thanks to the help of the Time Keepers, who had set up several hidden back up Time Pulse stations in abandoned Terras), the Terra was now nearly devoid of life, and those who were there were still working to repair their homes.

Meanwhile, the Terradon scientists had salvaged what they could of the Covenant tech that had been left behind. With constant communication to the Far Side, the best scientists on both halves of Atmos should easily be able to understand their new enemy, or so the Storm Hawks thought. When Aerrow, Piper, Radarr and Finn went to the work shop that the Terradon scientists had set up, they asked about the progress that may have been made.

"We're going to be honest." The head Terradon stated. "We have no idea how any of this stuff works."

On the table was a pair of Needlers, that had been completely intact and recovered from the bodies of a couple Unggoy. One had been completely taken apart, and the Storm Hawks could see the pieces that made up the interior scattered across the table. Around them, the Terradons had various expressions of confusion, and evne the holograms of the Far Side scientists simply had their heads on their desks.

"We thought the crystals in these doubled as a power source." The scientist explained. "But it also serves as the projectiles themselves."

"But, you've taken it apart," Finn pointed out. "And you've managed to grasp the basics behind the First Order's technology. You can't figure out what each part does?"

The scientists all looked at him in various states of exasperation, while Aerrow pinched the bridge of his nose, Radarr facepalmed and Piper rolled her eyes.

"Are you kidding?" One hologram spoke. "This is far beyond even what the First Order has. Some of the interior components don't even physically connect to anything!"

"You know, you could just ask us." Everyone turned as MK walked through the door, with Jarvis' hologram being projected from her hand. "We'd be happy to explain how this stuff works."

The scientists looked at each other, and the lead Terradon shrugged. "Well, we're clearly getting nowhere." He said. "I guess we're all ears."

"Well, the first thing to understand are the crystals." Jarvis stated. "These aren't the same crystals you find on Atmos. The material is called blamite, and it is primarily mined on a moon known as Suban."

"Blamite?" Finn deadpanned, with a raised eyebrow. "That can't seriously be what it's called."

"I know," MK sighed. "Believe me, I know."

"Anyway, the crystals have target tracking properties, which even the Republic is still studying to this day." Jarvis continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted. "As you've seen, once embedded in a soft target, the crystal shatters, causing serious internal damage, and when many crystals are embedded, the explosion supercombines with enough force to tear a human apart."

"Alright, so can you explain how the internals workings of this thing function?" Piper asked.

"Now that might take a while." The AI replied. "You see..."

It was at this point that the boys of the Storm Hawks were getting bored. They decided to take their leave and leave the science nerds to do their thing. Quietly, Aerrow, Radarr and Finn exited through the door of the workshop while the AI was saying something about energy fields.

Outside, Aerrow, Finn and Radarr left Piper, MK and Jarvis to work with the scientists while they went to find the rest of their team. But they were drawn in another direction when they heard Hunter's voice.

"Look, I know the Flood take priority, but there must be someone you can spare." They rounded a corner to see the Republic agent standing in an abandoned alley, with two fingers in his ear, clearly talking to someone.

Pulling Finn back, Aerrow ducked back behind the corner, and slowly peeked his head out, with Radarr holding on, but their ally didn't appear to have seen them. They couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but judging by the souring expression on Hunter's face, the answer was in the negative.

"Ok, fine." He sighed. "Forget about Republic forces, what about our allies? Commander Shepard? The Empire of the Hand? Something!" There was another moment of silence, before Hunter's expression grew incredulous. "Well, what are they doing?!" His eyes widened as he heard the answer. "Oh... alright." Another pause. "Understood."

With that, Hunter turned off his comms and sighed again, before looking in the direction of the three Storm Hawks, who had ducked back behind the corner. "You can come out now."

Hesitantly, the three eavesdroppers turned the corner, expecting Hunter to be (rightfully) angry, but he only looked a little weary and none of which was directed at the Storm Hawks themselves.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Just the parts after the Flood." Aerrow stated, having remembered Hunter's explanation about the alien parasite, and suppressing a shudder at the thought.

"Yeah, by the way, who's Commander Shepard?" Finn asked. "Or the Empire of the Hand-oof!" He groaned as Aerrow elbowed him in the stomach.

"If you were really spying, you'd already know that." Hunter retorted.

"We're sorry about that." The Sky Knight said, rubbing the back of his head. "We were just trying to find the rest of the team."

"It's fine," The Republic agent said dismissively. "No need to apologize. I'd be more concerned if you weren't curious."

There was an awkward silence before Finn decided to break it. "So, I'm guessing your Republic can't send reinforcements?" He earned a slap on the back of the head from Radarr for his troubles.

"Sadly yes." Hunter sighed yet again. "Though not for a lack of wanting to."

"The Flood?" Aerrow asked.

"Yeah..." The electrokinetic's expression made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. "C'mon, let's go find Stork and Junko."

Eager for the change of topic, the Hawks nodded and left the alley, with Hunter in tow.

"So, where's Piper?"

"Oh, she's with the Terradons and your girlfriend." Finn explained. "They're going over what they've recovered from the previous battles."

"And I'm guessing you all got bored of listening to Jarvis explaining how Covenant tech works." Hunter stated, causing the three of them to shift awkwardly.

"Speaking of the Covenant, I'm starting to wonder what they're up to." Finn said, a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Aerrow sighed. "As long as the Covenant and First Order are here, Atmos will never be free."

"Well, I do have one minor piece of good news." Hunter smirked, to the confusion of the three Storm Hawks. "Jarvis found something using the _Shadow's_ sensors." He activated a hologram in the palm of his hand.

"It looks like the Covenant and the First Order are going to be very busy in the near-future."

* * *

Back on the _Intention's Eye_, Laccabeus looked over the readouts on the bridge sensors. Atmosia had recovered rather quickly, no doubt thanks to the fact that the Sky Knights were still alive, which could be traced back to the Republic agents recognizing the trap.

More importantly however, was the fact that no Republic or Separatist ships had been detected anywhere, the presence of which would've been easily detected due to the fact that they could vaporize the _Eye _from orbit. For this, Laccabeus was thankful, and could reasonably assume that reinforcements wouldn't be coming any time soon, thanks to their conflict with the Flood.

However, despite their relief about avoiding the wrath of the multiversal superpowers, there was a more immediately pressing matter. They had detected several Viper probe droids, holding position at long range from concentrations of Covenant forces.

"How long have the droids been monitoring us?"

"For the past few days." Makterbus replied. "It seems likely that the First Order will launch an attack on our bases in the near future."

"Are we prepared to deal with them?" Laccabeus asked.

"Our defenses are prepared to hold off whatever they can throw at us." The lesser Chieftain said. "But without access to their method of crossing to the Far Side, we cannot launch a counterattack."

Laccabeus nodded grimly, having expected that reaction.

"And what of the doors?"

"We're still working on it." The lesser Chieftain responded. "But we're still no closer to locating any of the keys."

With a sigh, Laccabeus sat back in his chair, mulling over ways to find a way to get to the First Order. Unfortunately, they had nothing. None of their prisoners knew what the keys were or where they were, and with the Imperials in control of their entrances on the Far Side, they could come and go as they pleased.

However, there was a rumor of another path to the Far Side. One which would bear investigating once the First Order offensive had been dealt with. Coming to a decision, Laccabeus stood up and looked to Makterbus.

"Put our forces on silent alert." He said. "Let's make them believe that they have the upper hand."

"Understood." Makterbus nodded and left, sidestepping the silver armored Sangheili, with the Ascetic helmet, who had just walked into the bridge.

"You summoned me, Shipmaster?" The Elite put a fist to his chest and bowed his head slightly. Laccabeus turned and smiled.

"Ah, Halmat, my friend." The Chieftain greeted. "I trust you're up to speed?"

"I am." The Spec Ops commander nodded. "It seems the First Order will come to us soon enough."

"Indeed." The Shipmaster agreed. "Which is why I want your Sangheili as a secondary force at every major target. We know the First Order is observing our current troop movements, but they'll never see your Spec Ops forces coming."

"A sound strategy." Halmat murmured. "I'll give the order."

"Very good." Laccabeus said. "And after that, I have a special mission for you, and a lance of your best Elites. One that could guarantee our victory over the First Order."

* * *

In her palace on the Far Side, with her hood up, Master Cyclonis stood on a balcony, overlooking a vast hanger. Below her was a veritable sea of black, as the soldiers of the First Order rushed to and from their positions, occasionally interacting with the Night Crawlers around them.

Hearing footsteps behind her, the young dictator turned to see Snoke and Vestara Khai coming up to her. Taking their place a couple paces behind her and at her side, they joined her as she looked over the sight.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" Snoke said, a wisp of a smile appearing over his face before vanishing back into stoic features.

"Indeed, they are formidable." Cyclonis agreed. "But if these Covenant are as dangerous as you claim, will it be enough?"

"It will," The First Order leader said. "We just have to fight smarter than them."

"Or just cut off the head." Vestara spoke for the first time. "If Laccabeus dies, his forces will be left leaderless and disorganized. Then we can drive them from Atmos."

"Provided you can kill Laccabeus when you can." Snoke retorted.

"You underestimate my abilities." The Sith said. "That Jiralhanae will be no match for me."

"Now you're the one underestimating him." Snoke said. "He is far more dangerous than you realize."

"Enough!" Cyclonis snapped. "You all know your roles. If you wish to use my services, then those Covenant must be expelled from Atmos, and those pesky Sky Knights must be crushed. I am counting on you to deliver that promise."

"Yes, Master Cyclonis." They said in unison, before turning and leaving her to her thoughts.

Meanwhile, Snoke's own thoughts became busy as seeing Cyclonis like this suddenly explained why he and his organization was so willing to be lenient and submissive with her than he would've been with other jobs the First Order had taken.

The soldiers of the First Order felt more comfortable following the orders of Master Cyclonis than they probably should've been. But seeing her in her hood, suddenly it became clear why she felt like a true leader; with all the power and ruthlessness she possessed, Cyclonis was essentially a younger, female version of Emperor Palpatine.

She also had abilities even the Emperor was lacking: When the First Order had set up turbolaser batteries to defend against any attempts by the Covenant at simply flying over the barrier cliffs to the Far Side, the turbolasers were lacking the power needed to reliably damage the _Intention's Eye _itself.

But Master Cyclonis had forged enhancer crystals that were capable of boosting the turbolaser power, and would allow them to penetrate the Carrier's shields with greater ease than normal. The only drawback was that the crystals would burn themselves out after only a few shots, and could potentially shut down the weapons once they shattered.

_Still, the Covenant don't know that. _He thought grimly, as his mind drifted to the sortie of Banshees and Seraphs that had attempted to get over the cliffs. They had allowed the aircraft to scan the cannons and send the data back, which seemed to work in keeping the Covenant at bay, at least for now. Shaking his head, Snoke dismissed his musings when he walked up to Captain Phasma and Senior Captain Hux.

"Are we ready?"

"Our troops are prepared for what needs to be done." Phasma reported. "All Dark Troopers are in prime condition."

"All transports are prepared." Hux continued. "We're ready to leave as soon as the order is given."

"Good. Have our probe droids identified the highest concentrations of Covenant forces?"

"Affirmative." Phasma pulled out a datapad. "With a coordinated strike, we should be able to disrupt Laccabeus' operations on this planet. And if Vestara's part of the mission works, this world should be under our control."

"Provided that 'Mistress' Khai is able to kill Laccabeus." Hux muttered, unknowingly echoing Snoke's thoughts.

"If not, our men will." Phasma stated confidently.

"Though that still leaves an army of Covenant for us to deal with." Hux snapped. "We don't have nearly the manpower to deal with them, and they definitely have it out for us."

It was true. Ever since the First Order had encountered Laccabeus' forces at Endor, the Shipmaster had had it out for the Imperial-based PMC. Since then, the _Intention's Eye _had hounded First Order operations all over the Fringes, disrupting their jobs and dealing heavy casualties.

The First Order never had a large navy to begin with, primarily focusing their training and equipment costs on ground troops. While effective, this meant the PMC only had a small fleet, consisting primarily of Storm Commando escort carriers, and their flagship _Finalizer_, a modified Imperial-class Star Destroyer designed specifically to transport their ground forces.

Now, it seemed the Covenant were really out for blood, and with their flagship and main method of transportation crippled thanks to the sabotage of Hunter and MK, the First Order had no choice but to stay and fight for Atmos. Still, there was one thing that had remained secure in the cargo bay of their damaged and grounded Star Destroyer.

"Of course, if worse comes to worse, we do have our contingency ready." Snoke reminded them.

Hux's eyes widened and even Phasma's body language indicated she was shocked at their commander's suggestion. They knew exactly what contingency he was talking about, and both of them hated the idea of even having it along with them.

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." Hux said, voice trembling. "If it does, there's no way we can stop those things short of orbital bombardment."

"And if the Covenant survive, they might decide the same thing." Phasma pointed out. "We can't control those things, and neither can they."

The argument was interrupted as a bright red light filled the room. Suddenly, a hushed silence fell over the crowd as everyone turned to regard Cyclonis, who was hovering far above the hanger floor. The crystals in her staff were glowing brightly, and her hood uncurled into a mane. She almost seemed to radiate authority and power. A large holographic image of Cyclonis' head appeared, eerily reminiscent of Palpatine's favourite method of contacting his subordinates.

"Cyclonians and guests of the First Order." She addressed the gathered room. "It is time to begin Phase I. With the fall of the Covenant, all that can resist our might will be crushed." She raised her staff like a banner, the crystals glowing brightly. "Go! And begin our dominion over Atmos!"

The Talons cheered and the Night Crawlers roared/hissed in agreement. Shadow Troopers, Terror Troopers and Storm Commandos were too disciplined to break out into cheering like that, but many of them were smirking underneath their helmets.

Still cheering, the Cyclonians rushed to their skimmers and took off into the skies. Meanwhile, the First Order soldiers boarded their transports and followed after them, meeting up with airships and escort carriers holding position in the sky.

Cyclonis floated down to where Snoke and Hux were standing, Phasma and Vestara having already taken off. The young dictator smirked as the fleet filled the sky and portals began to open, before turning to the First Order commanders.

"We will command the attack from here." Hux said. "The Covenant won't know what hit them."

"And once they fall, the conquest of this world will be short." Snoke finished.

Cyclonis smiled evilly. "Atmos will be mine, and soon, everything else will be yours."


	4. Squadron Logs: Part 2

Squadron Log

_A few days after the First Order appeared, so to did someone else. They arrived in a ship that seemed fairly similar in design to those belonging to Cyclonis' new mercenaries, albeit with noticeable differences. When we first saw them, we expected them to be hostile, only to find them wearing different armor and in conflict with some 'Shadow troopers' and 'Terror Troopers' as they called the First Order's soldiers. What was more surprising was that the pair were using superpowers; one seemed to manipulate lightning, and the other controlled ice, both without the help of crystals..._

* * *

The Storm Hawks had been on the run for the last week. Ever since the First Order had been running amok on the Far Side, the squadron had been forced into hit and run raids against them as they slowly conquered everyone else.

There was definitely a feeling of deja vu among the Hawks, as the last time they had done this was during the six weeks of Cyclonian rule over Atmosia. Except, this was far worse; the First Order was far less tolerant over dissidents or resistance than the Talons were.

With each raid, the soldiers of the First Order went and executed innocent civilians, and threatened that more people would suffer for every attack against them. They made good on their promise, as more people were killed following each attack, and in increasingly violent and cruel ways.

What disturbed everyone was how calmly the black armored soldiers had followed through. There was no feeling of squeamishness or brutal sadism in their actions, just cold and ruthless efficiency. Many were wondering whether the First Order soldiers were actually human at all.

Because of the First Order's crackdown, the Storm Hawks had all but ceased their efforts against them, for fear of causing more loss of life. Despite this, Cyclonis still couldn't crush the hope of the people, and it would continue for as long as the Storm Hawks were still out there.

Now though, they were tracking down a lead on the whereabouts of Cyclonian and First Order forces. Just because they were trying to limit civilian casualties, didn't mean that they weren't going to stop fighting Cyclonis' new stooges. Rumors indicated that the First Order was setting up a base in a forested region, as a quick reaction force to the nearby city.

The Storm Hawks had initially gone in to hinder construction, but as they neared the site's location, they heard the distinctive high pitched whines of the First Order weapons. Confused, the Hawks wondered what was causing that.

"Could it be another resistance group?" Piper asked, as more and more sounds of blasterfire added themselves to the din.

"Maybe it's a family disagreement?" Finn half-heartedly suggested.

"Whoever it is, we gotta help them." Aerrow stated, gesturing to the source. "Let's move!"

The Storm Hawks ran towards the clearing, seeing flashes of red and blue light and hearing screams of pain. At that, they increased their pace, hoping to intervene before any more lives were lost. They leapt out of the clearing with a battle cry, weapons raised and pointed in their direction... only to lower them in awe as they saw what was happening.

To their surprise, they saw two armored beings fighting against the forces of the First Order. Despite similar color schemes, it was clear that the two fighters weren't with the mercenaries. For starters, their armor was clearly different, looking more advanced and it showed, as occasional bolts from the First Order struck, only to be intercepted by a golden field that sprung up over their bodies.

For another, the new arrivals were sending bursts of power from their hands, rather than using weapons: One was shooting bolts of electricity, with each one taking out a Shadow Trooper or Terror Trooper. The other released bursts of ice, occasionally flash freezing an enemy soldier in their tracks or impaling them with a shard of ice.

The Storm Hawks had already witnessed just how difficult it was to fight the First Order; their combat skills and pragmatism made even Cyclonis' elite Night Crawlers look like pushovers. So to see something tear through them so easily left them with feelings of both terror and awe.

"Who are these guys?" Finn asked. No one had an answer.

One of the gray soldiers, which these new arrivals called Dark Troopers, flew down and landed nearby, sending a stream of electricity from its ARC caster at the electric being. Instead of falling, the armored being shuddered (almost in euphoria) and the electricity danced up his body, glowing brighter.

"Really, what did you think was going to happen?" He asked the Dark Trooper.

Glowing with blue electricity, the armored being hurled a bolt of lightning from his hand, frying everything electronic in the cyborg. Then, a bolt of frost exploded behind him, encasing a cloaked Terror Trooper in ice.

Once the last of the First Order soldiers were down, the new arrivals turned to where the Hawks had hidden themselves from the battle. Looking at each other, the squadron was shocked when their armor suddenly vanished into nothing revealing that they were both human.

"You can come out now." The male stated. "We're not going to hurt you."

The team looked at each other, and with a nod from Aerrow, they leapt out of the bushes with their weapons drawn. The two humans looked at amused at the show of force, yet there was a hint of sadness in their eyes.

"Those aren't necessary, you know." The woman said. "We're not with the First Order."

"Oh yeah, prove it." Finn said, causing the others to groan. The man gestured to the bodies of the First Order and the devastated base.

"Do you need something else to convince you?"

"Who are you guys?" Aerrow asked.

The guy gestured to the blonde woman. "Well, that's MK," He pointed to himself. "I'm Hunter. And we're with the Republic."

...

_When everything calmed down, they identified themselves as Republic Agents, and when we asked what that meant, well... it got a little hard to believe. They said they were working for an interdimensional superpower, and that they weren't even native to this universe. And according to them, the First Order is also from another universe._

_This is huge. Not just scientifically, but socially and philosophically as well. Stork was practically jumping for joy when he heard about all this, claiming that he called something like this happening._

_Suffice to say, we had a lot of questions for these guys, and it was hard not to feel a little suspicious of our turn of good fortune. Still, if these guys really are here to help bring down the First Order, then who are we to turn away help like that?_

* * *

Piper walked into the Condor's bridge, where the rest of the Storm Hawks were gathered around the table and listening to Hunter and MK's explanations about the First Order and who they were. Taking a seat next to Aerrow, she listened as the two Republic agents explained that the First Order was a remnant of something called the 'Galactic Empire.'

"The Empire was led by Emperor Palpatine." MK was saying. "One of the most powerful Sith Lords in history. Through his power and those of his apprentice, Darth Vader, the Empire ruled over the galaxy with an iron fist."

As they heard the story, the Storm Hawks couldn't help but draw parallels to the Cyclonians, with Master Cyclonis as the Emperor, and the Dark Ace as Darth Vader. Looking at each other, then Finn spoke up.

"So what do these First Order guys want with Atmos?" He asked. "And why are they working with Cyclonis?"

"Yeah," Junko agreed. "Didn't you say that the Empire conquered worlds like ours, no matter who was in control? Why would they be willing to work with Cyclonia?"

"The First Order doesn't have nearly the same resources." Hunter explained. "They're essentially a fringe Private Military Corporation, scrounging whatever they can."

A blue hologram sprung up in the palm of Hunter's hand. The Storm Hawks had already been introduced to Jarvis, Hunter and MK's AI, but it was still rather surprising when his avatar appeared.

"As for why they're here, I can only assume they wish to use your world as a base." The AI stated. "Presumably, Cyclonis asked them to assist her, and in exchange, they get to use Atmos as a staging ground for their operations."

"Of course, that means they'll have to take control of the planet first." MK said.

"We won't let that happen." Aerrow said, leaning forward. "The First Order will have to go through the Storm Hawks first!"

Hunter and MK smiled, and even Jarvis seemed to have a smirk on his face.

"Well, now we know why Cyclonis and the First Order considers you to be such a threat." MK stated, gesturing to Aerrow.

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked. "I'm not in this alone." He gestured to the rest of the Storm Hawks. "I couldn't have gotten as far as I have without the best squadron in the Atmos with me."

"Oh, I don't mean to dismiss what all of you have done." MK stated. "We know enough about this planet's history to know that you've been considered the greatest heroes of Atmos after all, and one doesn't get a title like that without merit." She gestured to Aerrow again. "But, you're the leader for a reason."

The Sky Knight's mind drifted back to his first meeting with the Guardians. When he had learned that his father had been the leader of the original Storm Hawks. It had been surprisingly easy to accept that fact, and his destiny to lead the new generation of Storm Hawks. But to hear the same sort of praise from two superhumans who were from another universe was a little overwhelming, and also somewhat confusing.

"Why would _you_ think that?" He asked. "You guys just got to Atmos."

Hunter and MK shared a glance. Technically, while this was the first time _they_ had ever been to Atmos, they knew that the Republic and the Separatists had known about the world for some time now. The planet's crystal technology had fascinated the two interdimensional superpowers, but with better and more powerful alternatives that didn't rely on the resources of a single world available to them, they had ultimately agreed to leave the planet to its own devices.

Of course, they had left probes to monitor events that took place; To ensure that neither side broke that agreement, and to watch in case someone else tried to do exactly what the First Order was doing right now. Normally, the Republic would've intervened before the Imperial PMC could even set foot on the planet, but with the Flood once again on the rise, more and more of their forces were being tapped to help contain the Parasite. And while nominally allies with the Separatists, the Republic didn't trust them not to take over Atmos (plus, they were working with the Republic in containing the Flood, thus facing a similar problem).

The only reason Hunter and MK were free to follow the First Order was because they were in a bit of a grey area in their standing with the Republic. While the multiversal superpower supported them with technology and intel, they weren't true Republic agents, and while this meant they didn't have top of the line technology from them, it also meant they had more freedom in the Fringes, which was why they were tracking the First Order in the first place.

Bringing their thoughts back to Aerrow's question, the two superhumans had known the basic details about the Storm Hawks and what they had done for Atmos, but they only had their first real exposure to them now. That said, it wasn't hard to understand why the Storm Hawks, and Aerrow especially, had become the heroes that they were.

"It's just part of your... 'aura,' for lack of a better term." Hunter explained. "You have that charisma, that fire, the strength of character that makes people willing to follow you into hell itself if you asked them to. It's a rare leadership quality, but it's been seen before in the multiverse."

It was true. People like Commander Shepard, Master Chief, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and so many others. They all had their own styles of leadership, and their own reasons people followed them, but there was just something about them that made their subordinates willing to follow them anywhere. It was definitely a quality Aerrow possessed.

As Piper listened, she was surprised at how well they had identified some of Aerrow's best qualities. Of course, she had already known about his leadership abilities, it was why he was the leader of the Storm Hawks, as well as one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with him, but it was still weird to have those traits directly pointed out.

And it seemed the others were thinking the same thing. Finn was a loudmouth and a showoff, but when Aerrow gave an order, he followed without hesitation. Junko wasn't always the most confident person, but he would follow Aerrow into the thickest fights if the Sky Knight asked. Stork, for all his talk of doom and catastrophe, would follow even Aerrow's more reckless orders without hesitation. Oh, he would make remarks about how they were bad ideas, but he never openly protested against any of them. And Radarr had been with Aerrow even longer than the rest of them, and would follow the Sky Knight no matter what.

"All the same," MK continued. "I don't doubt you'll be able to deal with Cyclonis, but you'll need help against the First Order."

"No kidding." Finn muttered. "They make even the Night Crawlers look like pushovers."

After that, the Republic agents had a long discussion with the Storm Hawks about the specific capabilities of the First Order and what they could do. Finn, obviously, grew bored after a while, but everyone else listened with varying degrees of interest, with Stork often interjecting with either something insane or something involving them being doomed. Then, they listened as the Storm Hawks offered their own explanations about what Far Side technology could do.

"... And honestly, all that stuff is nothing compared to what Piper can do." Junko said.

"Oh, and what can you do?" Hunter asked, genuinely curious about what she was capable of.

So, the Crystal Mage explained her control over the Binding; how she could manipulate the crystals in ways that no one on Atmos (except for Cyclonis) could. She also explained how she could bestow similar powers onto Aerrow, especially since they were in perfect attunement.

"You know, I've actually been meaning to ask about that," MK said, with a small smile on her face. "So how long have you two been together?" MK asked, gesturing to Aerrow and Piper.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Aerrow stuttered, trying to cover up the fact that he and Piper were together.

"She's asking how long you two have been dating." Hunter clarified, also with a smile on his face.

"How did you know that?" Piper asked with a small sigh.

"Your body language." MK said simply. "That and finishing each other's sentences."

"So much for privacy." Aerrow muttered.

"I'm pretty sure your team already knew." Hunter countered, turning to look pointedly at the rest of the team.

"Oh, was it supposed to be a secret?" Junko asked.

"Oh, yeah." Stork muttered. "It wasn't hard to guess."

"It was pretty obvious." Finn agreed. "And I'm not just saying that because I read Piper's diary."

"You what?!" She screeched.

The Republic agents couldn't help but laugh as Piper started chasing the screaming Finn all around the Condor. "Right well, we'll let you guys rest for a bit." MK muttered as Finn ran past screaming. Deciding to leave the Storm Hawks alone for a bit, the two of them returned to the _Rogue Shadow_.

...

After a few hours of rest, and after making sure that the First Order hadn't snuck up on the two ships while they'd been sleeping, Hunter and MK returned to the Condor, unsurprised to find that the Storm Hawks were also beat from the Q&A session earlier.

Aerrow and Piper were sleeping together in his room, neither of them caring about what the others thought about their relationship anymore. Radarr slept at their feet, the three of them content in their sleep.

With the three original Storm Hawks resting, the Republic agents made their way to the hanger, finding Finn cleaning the hanger, with Junko working on the skimmers, and Stork fixing up his Storkmobile. Hunter had been very in awe of their skimmers, even going out of his way to state, "Why don't we have transforming flying motorcycles?"

"Because everything the Republic has is so much better?" MK replied, before realizing that the Storm Hawks were still in the room. "Er, no offense." She hastily amended.

It was at that point that Jarvis interrupted, appearing in the palm of Hunter's hand. "Sorry to interrupt," He said. "But I've intercepted a transmission from the First Order. Cyclonis is having some sort of meeting amongst all her supporters."

"Well then," Everyone turned to see Aerrow had woken up, with Radarr on his shoulder and Piper behind them both. "I guess we've got a new mission." He looked at Hunter and MK. "And if you guys are who you say you are, then we could use your help."

The two Republic agents looked at each other and shrugged. "Only if you want us." Hunter replied.

"I'm assuming you have a plan." Jarvis said, appearing in MK's hand. Piper smiled.

"Well, as a matter of fact..."

* * *

Squadron Log

_Well, our latest attempt to discover Cyclonis' plan was... a mixed success. On one hand, we know that she plans to rebuild her Storm Engine. On the other hand, we were nearly captured by the First Order..._

...

At the entrance to the administrative building, there was a large line of people waiting to get inside. Most of these people were the elite, collaborators with Cyclonis and her army, coming to mingle and learn the details of Cyclonis' newest plans, and more importantly, how they would benefit.

Outside the gate, Shadow Troopers stood with a datapad, cross checking every individual with their names on the list, as well as insuring no one had any dangerous crystals on them. One unlucky individual had messed up his invitation, and was promptly dragged away screaming by a pair of Terror Troopers.

Now, two couples dressed in rather extravagant clothing were standing at the gate, and the two guards looked at the datapad, attempting to match the tickets to the list. After a nerve-wracking several seconds, the Shadow Troopers gestured to the door.

Once inside the entrance, one of the women breathed a sigh of relief. Her date looked at her and gave a cocky grin. "I told you we'd get past it." Aerrow said. Piper smirked in spite of herself. "I guess so. I'm just glad these new Chroma crystals worked."

The two Storm Hawks had been able to ambush and capture two of Cyclonis' supporters, who were currently bound and gagged and were being watched onboard the Condor by the other Storm Hawks. Thanks to the new stealthy Chroma Crystals, the Sky Knight and the Crystal Mage were able to pass themselves off the two guests.

The invitation was a problem, but Jarvis was able to forge the invites rather easily. With Hunter and MK posing as their escorts and disguising themselves with incredibly advanced holograms, and bypassing the First Order security was surprisingly simple.

"I don't think they know it was us." Aerrow said.

"Oh, they know." Hunter replied. "They knew the moment we walked up to the gate."

"What?!" Piper hissed. "Then why did they let us pass?"

"Because this is a trap." MK said. "Cyclonis knew you'd be coming."

The two Storm Hawks looked at each other uneasily before looking back at the two Republic agents, who seemed rather calm about walking into a trap. Aerrow took a breath to calm his nerves, then looked back at the other three.

"But, how did they know it was us at the door?" Piper asked.

_Maybe because you two didn't do a damn thing to disguise your voices? _Hunter thought, but before he could reply, he was interrupted by Aerrow.

"It doesn't matter. Trap or not, we need to know what Cyclonis is planning." Aerrow said. "Especially now that the First Order is here." Piper nodded, her expression one of determination.

"We have one saving grace going for us. They recognized you two." The electro-kinetic said. "They don't know we're here." He gestured to himself and MK as he said that.

There was a moment of silence while Aerrow and Piper contemplated their next move. After a moment, the two of them nodded at each other before turning back to the Republic agents.

"Right, here's the plan." The Sky Knight said. "Piper and I will draw their attention, while you two figure out what Cyclonis is up to."

Nodding in agreement, the two couples separated, Aerrow and Piper headed towards the main room, while Hunter and MK moved towards the more restricted areas of the building.

...

Outside the entrance to Cyclonis' office, a pair of Shadow Troopers stood guard. Their only job was to keep any unauthorized personnel from entering, which was apparently a problem for the Master back on Cyclonia. Apparently, no one ever thought to put guards outside her doors, which allowed the Storm Hawks to steal the matrix of a regenerating crystal during an outreach event.

Captain Phasma had sworn that her men would ensure nothing like that happened again, so when a couple of party guests began walking in their direction, the Shadow troopers were immediately on alert and pulled their weapons out.

"Hey, what's up, guys?" The male slurred, sounding rather drunk. "Do you know where the bathroom is?"

"This is a restricted area." One trooper stated. "You're not authorized to be here."

"Ah, c'mon, we're just looking for a place to have some... private time." The woman said. "Do you know how boring that party is?"

The Shadow Troopers raised their blasters and pointed them at the two guests. "That wasn't a request."

"Alright, alright." The drunk raised his hands in surrender. "We're going. It's not like we're trying to get into Cyclonis' office."

The Shadow Troopers walked closer and one pulled out a pair of binders. "Ok, you two are coming with us."

"What, why?" The woman protested.

"No talking." The Shadow Trooper replied, the two of them stepping into arms reach. "Or do you want to take this up with Master Cyclonis?"

"What does she have to do with this?" The drunk guy slurred.

"You were trespassing on her office." The other Shadow trooper snarled. "Do you need any other reason?"

"No thanks, that's all we needed to hear." The man said, the drunken tone gone.

Suddenly, two glowing blue energy blades shrouded in electricity emerged from above the guy's wrists, while two silver-white blades made of ice came from the same locations on the girl. Before the Shadow Troopers could react, the two superhumans drove their blades into their throats in one synchronized move.

Grabbing the bodies before they hit the ground, Hunter and MK dragged the two soldiers into the office, before stashing them in a nearby closet, while Jarvis imitated their voices and gave an all clear message through the First Order channels.

They knew Phasma wouldn't buy the deception for very long, but hopefully it would last long enough to grab what they needed. Looking around the office, the Republic agents hoped to find some indications of what Cyclonis and the First Order were planning.

"There's nothing here." Hunter said after a while. "Looks like the First Order gave Cyclonis security advice."

"Well, if she needed those Imperial idiots to explain simple security to her, then it's a small wonder she always had these problems." MK replied.

"Well, if what Aerrow said is any indication, it's not like her guards were any better in Cyclonia."

"Still, it doesn't speak well to her leadership skills." She said, checking the desk drawers.

"Well, she's a teenager in charge of an evil empire." Hunter replied. "The fact that she'd held onto power for so long is an admittedly impressive feat." After a moment, he sighed in frustration. "Still, it would be nice of her to leave her plans out like most wannabe despots. Jarvis, you reading anything in the computer systems?"

"No sir." The AI replied. "It appears the bulk of the First Order is just as in the dark as we are."

"Damnit." MK sighed. "I guess we'll learn along with all the party guests."

"Speaking of which, we'd better get back there before the First Order springs their trap."

Quietly, the two Republic agents snuck out of the office and made their way towards the main hall, summoning their armor and activating their active camo as they moved through the hallways.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the main hall, dozens of couples were gathered near the dance floor. Hidden among them were the disguised Aerrow and Piper, who looked at the decorations with slight awe.

Say what you will about Cyclonis' plans, but someone on her staff apparently hadn't taken the event rather seriously, as a dance floor was not usually something that you'd have when announcing one's evil plans.

Still, the two Storm Hawks weren't going to complain about the crowd of people to hide in. Of course, the shimmering patches of air at the edge the room meant that the room wasn't devoid of soldiers. The First Order was apparently taking their duties seriously.

"Do you see Cyclonis anywhere?" Piper whispered.

"No, but she'll be here soon enough." Aerrow said. "We need to blend in until she arrives."

...

_Still, disregarding the trap, it was actually kinda nice to just be with Aerrow for half an hour. We never really get a chance to have some alone time on the Condor, especially with the team always nearby. But, obviously, considering our luck, that couldn't last..._

_..._

Suddenly, the music slowed as the high class couples began a slow dance. Aerrow held out a hand to Piper. "Shall we?" Smiling, Piper took his hand and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

"Where did you learn to dance?"

"During our little trip to that party several months ago." Aerrow replied. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, consider me surprised." She whispered.

Resting her head on his shoulder as they slowly rotated along with the music, Piper smiled contently. In spite of the mission they had, and the danger they were likely in, it was nice just to have some time alone with Aerrow, and not having to worry about what the rest of the guys were doing. The two of them were content in each others arms, and they wanted the moment to last forever. Unfortunately, it could only last for so long.

"Oh, am I interrupting your date?"

The voice of Cyclonis halted the music on the spot. The two Storm Hawks broke apart and turned in shock as the dictator floated to the ground. The crowd wordlessly parted around her, with the exception of one silver clad Shadow Trooper flanked by two others, who moved to stand at the Master's side.

"Come now, Piper," The crystal in Cyclonis' staff flashed, and the Chroma crystals faded, revealing the true forms of Piper and Aerrow. "You think I wouldn't notice what you were doing, BFF?" The crystal mage's fist clenched at that.

"What do you want, Cyclonis?" Aerrow growled.

"Oh, just what I always wanted." The Master replied. "Dominion over Atmos. And once you two are out of the way, I will get what I want."

"It appears you were right, Captain." The dictator continued, turning to acknowledge the silver armored presence behind her. "This was an easy way to lure the Storm Hawks into a trap."

"It's worked before." Phasma simply said. "What do you wish to do with them, Master?"

"Bring them to the palace." Cyclonis replied, as four Terror troopers appeared at the edge of the room and made their way through the crowd, causing several startled gasps. "I want them to know how they've lost."

As the four Terror Troopers converged on the middle of the dance floor, they were suddenly frozen in a thick coating of ice, before being electrocuted, to the shock of Cyclonis and Phasma.

"Hey, Phasma." Hunter called as he and MK decloaked beside the two Storm Hawks. "Long time no see."

"Sorry about the mess." MK continued.

"You." The silver armored Shadow Trooper growled. "It was you two. You killed my platoon."

"Did we?" MK mocked. "I can't remember."

"Yeah, could you be a little more specific?" Hunter snarked. "I think we've killed over a hundred of your best troops to date."

It was at this point that the guests truly registered the violence that was about to go down. With most of them being high class snobs, they ran for the exits, and were replaced by more Shadow Troopers, mixed with Terror Troopers, Dark Troopers and Storm Commandos.

Phasma glared at the two Republic agents. "You're going to pay for killing my men."

"How?" MK asked in a faux innocent voice. "By sending more of them to die?"

"Tell you what," Hunter addressed the surrounding troops. "We'll give you a chance to surrender. Lay down your arms, and we'll let you go." The First Order soldiers only tightened their grips on their weapons. He shrugged. "Your funeral."

"Kill them!" Cyclonis shouted, causing red blaster bolts to lance out towards the four intruders.

They never reached them. MK tossed down a small pillar-like device, producing a golden energy barrier that appeared to be created with a beehive pattern to it. The blaster bolts impacted the bubble shield with absolutely no effect, the advanced energy shield absorbing them with ease.

"Well, the fun starts." Hunter smiled dangerously under his helmet. "Jarvis, some fight music, if you would be so kind?"

"Certainly sir." The AI said. A second later, the sound system all over the building started blaring a strange techno song that no one on Atmos had heard before. Still, it served to psyche up the Republic agents (**AN: The song is 'Derezzed' by Daft Punk in case you were wondering, which does not belong to me**).

"Oh, by the way," Hunter pulled out a bag of crystals and tossed them to Piper. "You're probably going to need these."

Catching the bag, the Crystal Mage looked at Aerrow and the two nodded. Piper and Aerrow began glowing with blue light as their attunement with each other through the Binding harmonized.

They floated up into the air, before unleashing a shockwave of energy that scattered the First Order soldiers, causing them to scatter all over the room, groaning in pain and halting their fire, just in time for the bubble shield to collapse.

In response, Cyclonis began glowing purple and started firing blasts of energy at the two of them. Piper and Cyclonis became locked in a beam war, while Aerrow began taking out the Night Crawlers that had started to show up.

Meanwhile, the two Republic agents made mincemeat out of the First Order soldiers, who had barely managed to recover from Aerrow and Piper's attack before the Republic agents were on them. As Shadow, Terror, and Dark Troopers began making their way into the ballroom to replace the losses, the two superhumans took them down one by one.

Phasma rallied her forces and attempted to get the heavy troopers to help Cyclonis, but this only turned them into targets of Hunter and MK. Bolts of lightning, shards of ice and blaster bolts burst through the air, and the two superhumans were forced behind cover by the sheer volume of blasterfire.

"Is this the best the Republic can do?" Phasma mocked. "Or are they really so weak that they can't be bothered to send anyone other than you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hunter called, as a bolt of lightning struck a Shadow Trooper beside her. "If you're so powerful, why is the First Order running from the IDA? The Republic has more important things to do than dealing with an Imperial splinter group with delusions of grandeur."

More and more soldiers from the Night Crawlers and the First Order kept filing into the room, increasingly destroying the splendor of the once grand ballroom. If this kept up, even the four of them would be swamped, and Aerrow knew it.

"Guys, we need an exit." Aerrow said, putting his hand to his ear. "Right now!"

There was a loud explosion as the ceiling blew up and a loud horn that signalled the arrival of the Condor. The First Order soldiers and Night Crawlers scattered as the debris fell around them, while the superhumans and the crystal infused humans were protected by their own shields.

"Leaving so soon?" Cyclonis snarked, glowing red with power. "You will not escape me!"

"Take her down, hurry!" Aerrow ordered.

In response, Piper infused Aerrow with more power, and the two of them unleashed energy blasts at the young dictator. Hunter and MK quickly joined in, bolts of lightning and shards of ice impacting the energy shield that she was forced to erect around herself.

The strain from the combined blasts of all four enhanced beings proved too much for Cyclonis, who fell to the ground from the sheer power used against her. When she hit the ground, a scroll flew free from her robes, landing right in front of Piper.

Noticing it, the Crystal Mage grabbed the paper just as yet more Night Crawlers and Shadow Troopers burst into the room, this time by blasting a hole in the wall. "I think it's time to leave!" Aerrow shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

With that, the attuned humans flew up to the Condor, while being covered by the bolts of electricity and ice that Hunter and MK shot at their pursuers. As soon as they were sure that Aerrow and Piper were safe, they used their thrusters to join the Storm Hawks.

"Stork, get us out of here!" Aerrow ordered as soon as Hunter and MK joined them.

At Aerrow's command, Stork hit the accelerator, causing the four new arrivals to lose their balance and slide along the hanger floor. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Junko and Finn manned the cannons, shooting down the Night Crawlers that attempted to pursue them.

"Uh, we got a problem!" Finn shouted as another engine noise made itself heard, sounding vaguely like a sustained animal roar.

The noise resolved into a pair of TIE Hunters, which immediately set themselves on an intercept course with the Condor. But before they could get into optimal firing range, the two fighters abruptly exploded, causing Stork to sigh in relief.

Once the Condor was safely away, the Storm Hawks could breathe a sigh of relief. That mission was tougher than they had expected it to be, and there was no doubt in any of their minds that without the help of Hunter and MK, they might not have made it at all.

Even now, the _Rogue Shadow_ was making sure that the First Order aircraft wouldn't follow them, and would rendezvous with the Storm Hawks later. Now, with Hunter and MK onboard, they could discuss how things had gone and figure out what to do next.

"Well, I think that could've gone better." Stork said.

"Hey, compared to how things could've gone, it could've gone a lot worse." MK pointed out.

"And we did get Cyclonis' plan." Piper said, holding up the scroll she had grabbed before they left.

"Well, let's see it." Aerrow said. Putting it down, Piper unrolled the scroll only to gasp. "What is it?" The Sky Knight asked as he moved to look, only to figure it out himself.

"Well, that looks familiar." Finn deadpanned as he and Junko shuddered.

"So, are we supposed to know what that is?" Hunter asked.

"Cyclonis is building another Storm Engine." Piper explained, then proceeded to detail what it could do. The two Republic agents whistled in awe.

"That's pretty powerful." MK muttered.

"But, how would she power it?" Aerrow asked. "The last time, the only crystal strong enough to power that thing was the Aurora Stone. But I destroyed it."

"The First Order might have something that could power it." Hunter replied. "A single Star Destroyer reactor has the same power output as a small star."

Piper's eyes widened at that statement. "With even a fraction of that kind of power, Cyclonis could atomize the Far Side!"

"We can't let that happen." Aerrow said, slamming his fist into his palm. "We need to hit Cyclonis with everything we've got!" He turned to the Merbian helmsman. "Stork, set course for Cyclonis' palace."

"And straight into a fortress full of Night Crawlers and First Order soldiers?" Stork's eye twitched before he sighed in resignation and a small amount of what seemed like glee. "On our way."

"You won't be alone." Hunter said as a hologram appeared in his hand. "Jarvis?"

"Already on the way, sir." The AI replied. "I should have a full report on their positions within the hour."

"You guys are coming, too?" Piper asked.

"Of course." MK replied. "We're not going to let the First Order do what ever they want. If we can help you kick them off Atmos, then it's all the better."

"Oh, yeah! Cyclonis is going down!" Finn cheered.

* * *

_Now though, we know exactly what Cyclonis is doing. She's planning to rebuild her Storm Engine, and intends to use it to destroy all remaining cities in the Far Side that resist her. And once that's done, I have no doubt that she'll head back to Atmosia and do the same thing there. But as Aerrow said, it won't happen. We won't let her. So we're on our way to Cyclonis' fortress, with the _Rogue Shadow_ leading the way. We're going to hit the First Order right where they live._

_..._

"I'm disappointed Captain." Cyclonis snarled. "For all the vaunted training your troops have, they were still bested by the Storm Hawks." The crystal in her staff glowed and a bolt of energy struck the Shadow Trooper leader head on, causing her to crash to the ground.

"We didn't know about the Republic agents." Phasma gasped as she sat up. "We couldn't have accounted for them."

"It's not her fault." Snoke came to her defense. "And frankly, you bear some of the blame as well, Master Cyclonis."

"Excuse me?!"

"Let's not forget, it was _your_ scroll they acquired." Snoke pointed out. "You were the one who decided to bring evidence of what we were doing."

Angered, Cyclonis pointed her staff at the First Order general, who looked unimpressed at the threat. He even raised an eyebrow in annoyance, and mild panic. "But, this little blame game is getting us nowhere." Snoke said. "Our enemies know we're helping you rebuild their Storm Engine, and will come to stop you."

"Um, shouldn't we be more concerned that Hunter and MK are here?" Hux interjected. "They could bring the Republic down on us!"

"That's doubtful." Phasma replied. "Considering our previous encounters with the two of them, if they had the ability to do that, they would've called them long before now."

"Agreed." Said Snoke. "The Republic is probably stretched thin given all the problems in the multiverse. I don't think we'll have to deal with any other force of theirs for some time now."

"Be that as it may," Cyclonis growled. "I won't allow the Storm Hawks or their new allies to destroy my Storm Engine. Not again."

"It may not be so simple this time, Master." Phasma replied. "If what you told us is true, and considering what my forces have seen, then the girl and the Sky Knight may actually get through our defenses. And we won't be able to catch them off guard this time."

"I wouldn't worry about them." A voice emerged from the shadows behind Cyclonis' throne. She was a rather beautiful young woman, with tattoos around her eyes, fairly pale skin, and a scar at the side of her mouth that gave her the constant appearance of a smirk. The latter was highlighted even more with the actual smirk on Vestara Khai's face.

"Leave Aerrow and Piper to me."


	5. First Retaliation

The First Order assault came at dawn, several days after the Covenant's attack on Atmosia. Violet portals somewhat similar to a slipspace rupture appeared in the sky, disgorging hundreds of Cyclonian skimmers, and Night Crawler gliders alongside several dozen Cyclonian Destroyers.

Shortly afterward, they were followed by the transports and airspeeders of the First Order, who would make up the real muscle behind this attack. As the combined forces made their way to their targets, the Cyclonians allowed themselves to believe that they had blindsided the alien invaders, and could easily take revenge against them.

The First Order forces, by contrast, held back, letting their allies rush into the killzone. They didn't believe for a moment that the Covenant were unaware of their coming. It was why they had allowed the Cyclonians to go in first.

Their caution turned out to be very warranted when squadrons of Banshees burst through the nearby clouds with their trademark wailing, unleashing plasma bolts at the leading Cyclonians and shooting several of them down.

The Cyclonians returned fire, which had minimal effect on the hulls of the Covenant aircraft. That changed when the First Order joined in, their more powerful blaster and laser cannons were capable of bringing down a Banshee with one shot.

Knowing they were outnumbered, the remaining Banshees chose to retreat, with the Cyclonians laughing sadistically as they followed them. Meanwhile, the First Order troops began making their way towards the designated target areas.

Meanwhile, the Cyclonians had a secondary goal; which was to strike against the rest of Atmos, and remind them that even with the loss of Cyclonia, Master Cyclonis would still rule. Of course, they had made the mistake of assuming the Covenant would leave them anything of worth.

* * *

The attack on Blizzaris was swift and brutal. The forces of the Covenant were in relatively small number here, allowing the First Order to inflict heavy casualties amongst them. Blaster bolts lanced through the air, striking many Grunts head on and tearing them apart. In response, the more durable and experienced Covenant surged forward, taking the brunt of the damage and returning fire against the First Order.

Missiles lanced out from a high vantage point, launched from an AT-MP and striking one Wraith head on. The explosives tore through the Covenant tank, consuming the tank in a large explosion.

In response, a flaming blue comet erupted from another Wraith, impacting the AT-MP seconds later. The blast consumed the small walker, another one nearby, and every soldier within the vicinity of the explosion.

Phase Zero Dark Troopers retaliated by flying over the battlefield and landing on the Wraith. One of the soldiers blasted the stunned gunner before he could react, while another ripped off the tank's hatch with cybernetically enhanced strength. The stunned Jiralhanae driver looked up, just in time for the Dark Trooper to drop a small silver sphere into the cabin before jetting away.

The thermal detonater exploded, igniting the Wraith's core and creating another massively blue fireball that consumed any Covenant near it. Galvanized by the destruction of the Covenant armor, the First Order soldiers pushed forward, forcing the Covenant to retreat towards the remains of the Blizzarian homes.

As the Covenant retreated, the soldiers of the Imperial PMC pushed them back further, unaware that they were being led into a trap. As the First Order pushed forward, they failed to notice the shifting snow as several cloaked figures rose up from their hidng places. The first sign they had that they were under attack was when a plasma grenade killed an entire squad of Shadow Troopers.

The conflict became an all out brawl as the two sides drew into close quarters. It didn't help that blaster and plasma fire had a tendency to melt any ice formation that could be used as cover, forcing the combatants to close the gaps.

The First Order artillery fell back, attempting to get a good angle on the Covenant, but with such a chaotic fight, they were unable to without risking their own soldiers. These same vehicles were targeted by the Covenant's own vehicles, as Ghosts and Choppers tore through the First Order's vehicles with their superior maneuverability.

The Imperials weren't just going to take it however: blaster cannons and missiles lanced out, blowing several vehicles apart. One Chopper had been severely damaged by a barrage of blasterfire and was being targeted by an AT-MP. The Brute driver, knowing his odds of survival, responded by roaring and rammed the massive bike into the walker. The resulting explosion consumed both of them.

As the wind and snow picked up, it created a small storm over the battlefield, decreasing visibility for both sides. The Covenant Spec Ops forces, already having problems with attempting to sneak up on their enemies through the snow, found it even more difficult due to the ice particles now coating their bodies, rendering their cloaking devices ineffective.

On the other hand, the First Order had outfitted most of the Shadow Troopers present with Snowtrooper armor, allowing them to conceal themselves in the environment. Unfortunately, the PMC was ironically short stocked on white armor in general, and had to make do with what they had. This meant that the Terror troopers, Dark Troopers and Storm Commandos stood out (ironically) like stars in the night sky in this environment, even more so than the irregular armor colors of the Covenant.

Realizing that they wouldn't win this battle, the First Order ultimately called a retreat, fleeing from the physiologically superior aliens under the cover of the snowstorm. As the dropships that brought them here left, the remaining Covenant couldn't find much to celebrate, as they had sustained extensive casualties during the fight. Little did they know that all across Atmos, the war was still raging.

* * *

The fighting was fierce in the jungles of Amazonia. Automated AT-KT walkers had been deployed alongside the ground troops to offer some form of armor support against the vehicles of the Covenant. Phase Zero Dark Troopers engaged in aerial duels with Sangheili Rangers and Jiralhanae Jumpers, the former having a distinct advantage due to their training, which allowed them to fight evenly with their physiologically superior opponents.

Storm Commandos engaged in sniper duels with the Kig-Yar snipers, the red eye scopes worn by the latter only made them easier targets. Being used to the guerilla warfare once practiced by the Rebel Alliance, Storm Commandos had little difficulty in making effective hit and fade attacks against the badly camouflaged opponents.

Some Storm Commandos even managed to sneak up to some of the Anti-air Wraiths and planted explosives on them, thus clearing the skies for more of their dropships. The accompanying Cyclonians cheered in joy when that happened. Combined with the Covenant apparently retreating, and even the First Order was in a good mood.

That good mood was shattered when one Dark Trooper was lifted into the air by the prongs of an energy sword, held by a cloaked Elite. Many of the allied soldiers stared in shock, which proved to be a fatal mistake.

The air came alive with the sound and light of plasma fire, spiker rounds and explosives, cutting down First Order soldiers and panicking the Cyclonians. Special Ops Sangheili and Jiralhanae Stalkers tossed plasma grenades and firebombs into the enemy formations, further adding to the chaos.

To their credit, the First Order soldiers rallied quickly to this new threat, zeroing in on their cloaked opponents and even taking some of them down. Of course, that was when the Covenant armor properly returned, forcing them to scatter.

AT-KT's and hover tanks were annihilated by the extreme heat of the Wraith plasma mortars, many of them melting into piles of slag. Ghosts and Choppers chased down any Cyclonians on their skimmers, the latter of which had a tendency to grind the skimmers into scrap metal, and turning the riders (as well as anyone else in their path) into unidentifiable chunks of gore.

While the Cyclonians attempted to fight on, many of them started to realize that the First Order had vanished. Several Talons widened their eyes in horror as they realized that they had been left behind, which lasted for as long as it took for the Covenant to gun them down.

Several skimmers attempted to take to the skies, only to be shot down by the surrounding Banshees and the Anti-Air Wraiths. Less than half an hour later, all the Cyclonian and Imperial forces were either dead or retreating, leaving the Covenant to secure their hold on Amazonia.

...

The same story was everywhere, as the Talons found out the hard way that they were meant to serve as bait to draw the Covenant out, as well as sacrificed to them as the battles drew to a close. Some attempted to surrender, only to realize that death would've been preferable.

This gave the soldiers of the First Order time to retreat, as the Cyclonian Talons were left to fend for themselves. This had been the plan all along, not that the Cyclonians had known. With the strength the First Order possessed, Master Cyclonis had known that they would be the key to her dominion over Atmos.

And considering how often the Talons had failed her, she was feeling far less generous towards their lives, which was why she was willing for the First Order to use them as cannon fodder against the Covenant. Her Night Crawlers though, she was less willing to spend them, even though she had an army of them on the Far Side.

The First Order had gone into the battle knowing that they would be outnumbered and outgunned. Which was why they allowed the Cyclonians to spring the Covenant ambushes for them.

It was also why the majority of the vehicles they had deployed were automated, to avoid wasting the lives of the First Order soldiers. The Talons on the other hand, were nothing more than cannon fodder, sent to die so the First Order troopers could take the Covenant down.

The point of this raid was to show the Covenant that the First Order wouldn't be intimidated so easily. It was also meant to wittle away at the Covenant forces, and considering the not-insignificant number of Covenant bodies, that job was done in spades.

That said, The Imperial PMC had taken their own casualties, more than they had wanted to. Many of them had been torn apart by the Covenant counter attacks, and the rare captives were taken to become food for the Covenant.

...

Captain Phasma stood over the holotable on the makeshift camp the First Order had set up on an unnamed Terra. Sighing in frustration, she went over the casualty reports, and looked at their strategic situation.

It wasn't terrible, by any means, but it certainly wasn't good: The Covenant had inflicted significant casualties among the Talons, as expected, but the alien casualties were rather lighter than they would've liked. It seemed Laccabeus had known they were coming, and prepared accordingly, as each First Order raid found themselves engaging Covenant Special Ops troops at their major locations.

Of course, the First Order knew it wasn't possible to clear the Covenant out now, but the element of surprise would've allowed them to inflict more casualties and force Laccabeus to reconsider remaining on Atmos.

And while the strike teams varied in strength and composition from one Covenant-occupied Terra to another, there was one location that Phasma had refused to hit: Terra Tropica. And for good reason; with the massive Covenant staging area on the ground, and with the _Intention's Eye _overhead, mounting any sort of offensive action there would be suicidal, at least until Laccabeus's forces had been thinned out.

That role was exactly what Snoke and Cyclonis hoped to accomplish with these attacks, with the primary purpose of wearing the aliens down. Of course, one particular group of the First Order had a different objective. One which if completed, could make all the difference in their campaign over Atmos.

* * *

Several miles from Terra Tropica was another smaller Terra. With a name that had long been forgotten by the rest of the planet, the only thing remotely notable about this particular mountaintop was the ancient ruins that dotted its surface.

Now believed to be connected to the same civilization as the Forbidden City, the First Order's probes had noticed that Laccabeus himself was frequenting these ruins, if the Lich that circled the area occasionally was anything to go by.

With that in mind, a strike team led by Vestara Khai would make their way to the ruins, and ambush Laccabeus when he appeared. They would have to be quick; although the _Intention's Eye_ wasn't within immediate range, Banshee patrols still covered a large radius around the carrier.

Though the current raid was likely to draw them off, there was still a chance that the Shipmaster would contact reinforcements before the team could finish their objective. Which was why Vestara had brought in the best stealth operatives that the First Order had to offer, with Shadow Troopers and Storm Commandos rigorously trained in hit and fade tactics.

Silently, the Imperial dropships made their way toward the Terra, flying just over the Wastelands to avoid any possible Covenant air patrols. They weaved past the monsters inhabiting the surface of the planet, occasionally taking potshots at anything that tried to attack them. Once the ships had closed in on the base of the mountain, they flew up until they reached the edge of the nearest cliff. With the doors open, Vestara led the troops into the ruins, who spread out and took cover in various structures.

Storm Commando snipers made their way up to some of the highest buildings, taking overwatch positions and giving the rest of the strike team news on what they were dealing with. The Covenant forces were surprisingly light, which was likely due to the raids that were currently taking place against other Terras.

Still, there was a significant infantry presence, along with a pair of Ghosts providing light armor support. Strangely, it appeared that the Covenant were searching for something, as they seemed to be scouring the area with little regard to the welfare of the buildings they were tearing apart.

Still, it appeared that the aliens had yet to notice the First Order's arrival, exactly as planned. And even more importantly, the snipers had spotted Laccabeus coordinating the Covenant forces.

"Permission to take the shot?" One sniper requested.

"Negative." Vestara immediately replied. "His shields will be able to hold against your blasters. Mark any Jackal snipers that you can find. And only on my command, take them out. Understood?"

Once she got confirmation, she addressed the rest of her troops. "The rest of you know your roles. Get into position, and when I give the signal, open fire."

* * *

"Shipmaster, the First Order strike team is here." Halmat's voice broke over the radio. "And it appears that Vestara Khai is leading the attack."

Laccabeus smiled evilly at the report. "Good work, Halmat. You know what to do." Getting the acknowledgement he needed, the Shipmaster waited until he could hear the soft footsteps closing in on his position.

Pulling out his gravity hammer, the Chieftain sent a shockwave at a nearby building, shattering the debris and sending Vestara Khai flying from her hiding space. The Sith managed to land on her feet, igniting her lightsaber with a snap-hiss.

"Hello Vestara." Laccabeus laughed. "How's your mission going?"

The Sith said nothing, she merely leaped forward and swung her blade at the Chieftain's head, who easily parried it with the hilt of his hammer. She jumped back just in time to avoid a second hammer swing, which left a crater right where she had been a second ago.

"Your little reign over this planet ends today, Laccabeus." Vestara snarled. "The First Order will dominate Atmos, and your Covenant will not change that."

"You think I care about this planet?" The Shipmaster chuckled. "My crew and I have no need for the resources of this world. All we want is to see you suffer!"

Laccabeus charged forward, only to be sent back a couple steps by the powerful Force Push Vestara had sent at him. Thanks to the natural Force resistance possessed by everyone from the Precursor universe, the Jiralhanae barely felt it.

"You naive little witch." The Chieftain snarled. "Did you really think we were unaware of your arrival?"

All around them, weapons fire lit up the ruins as Laccabeus' Covenant forces encountered Vestara's strike team. Blaster bolts streaked through the air, striking shields and tearing apart the flesh of unshielded Grunts and Jackals. Plasma bolts and other esoteric projectiles retaliated, melting armor and turning their wearers into chunks of flesh.

Distracted, Vestara was nearly flattened by another hammer shockwave, only narrowly moving in time to avoid it. The Chieftain swung again and again, attempting to get one good blow to grind her into paste. The Sith leapt from each hammer shockwave, avoiding each and even managing to land some hits of her own with her lightsaber and occasional sparks of Force lightning. For all the good it did. The former was deflected by his personal disrupter field, while the latter was simply absorbed by his energy shields.

After several minutes of this pace, Vestara found herself starting to tire. Even with her use of the Force, she could only keep this up for so long, especially against someone with superior strength and stamina. By contrast, Laccabeus seemed to be having the time of his life.

"I knew you would come for me." He smashed aside another piece of debris Vestara threw at him. "Why do you think I came here alone? I knew you would show up."

"And I thought you were supposed to be intelligent." Vestara shouted. "Your forces are insufficient to deal with mine."

It was true. A small number of Laccabeus' guards were dead, while the rest were pinned in their cover by the pinpoint accuracy of the First Order soldiers. Kig-Yar snipers had attempted to alleviate the pressure, but were gunned down by the First Order snipers. Instead of demoralising or angering the Brute Chieftain, he only smiled.

"Are they?" Laccabeus laughed, as shouts of panic emerged from the First Order lines.

Sparing a glance, Vestara saw as several Spec Ops Elites and Brute Stalkers appeared out of nowhere, having hidden themselves among the ruins. With the element of surprise on their side, the cloaked Covenant began rampaging through the stealth operatives of the First Order, leaving them wedged between their invisible opponents and Laccabeus' personal guards.

From their overwatch position, the First Order snipers had managed to either pin down or eliminate the Jackal snipers nearby. Now, they were trying to get a bead on Laccabeus, though his fast paced duel with Vestara and disrupter field prevented them from doing any meaningful damage.

Suddenly, they heard a sharp crack behind them. Spinning in shock, they were just in time to see a black armored Elite with an energy sword fade into view. Panicking the two Shadow Troopers dropped their rifles and reached for their sidearms, but were cut in half before they had a chance.

Back on the ground, Vestara tore a pillar off the ground with the Force, and hurled it at Laccabeus, who quickly spun and smashed the makeshift projectile with his gravity hammer. The Jiralhanae laughed as he turned back to her.

"Is this the best you can do?"

"Oh, I have a lot more!" Vestara shouted, before unleashing more Force Lightning at the Chieftain, forcing him to keep his disrupter field active in order to avoid, which would drain the energy and make him more vulnerable. "You really thought you could defeat a Sith Lord on your own?!"

She wasn't sure what reaction she was expecting, but the Jiralhanae's smirk wasn't it. "Who said I was on my own?" That answer filled her with dread.

Her danger sense quickly flared, and she barely turned in time to catch the blood red energy sword blade that would've cut her in half. Still, she could feel herself giving ground to the greater strength of the Sangheili, who was clad in a silver Ascetic helmet.

Vestara sent a Force Push at Halmat, staggering him and giving herself room to maneuver, only to put herself right in the path of Laccabeus' hammer. In a split second, she was able to avoid the hammer itself, but not the shockwave, which sent her flying into a nearby wall. Her lightsaber flew out of her hand from the impact, and clattered to the ground.

"Your forces are finished." Laccabeus snarled, gesturing around him. "Make this easy on yourself."

Stretching out her awareness, Vestara found that Laccabeus was speaking the truth. All the First Order soldiers she had brought with her were either dead or dying, having insufficient weapons to deal with such a large number of Covenant.

Still, she had a way out of this. Grabbing debris with the Force, she sent it flying at a nearby pillar, which nearly collapsed on Laccabeus and forced the Shipmaster to leap back and avoid being crushed.

In response, Halmat swung at the young woman, who used her smaller size and enhanced reflexes to easily avoid the energy sword. Leaping into the air, she drove her knee into Halmat's jaw. From a normal human, that blow would've done nothing, but enhanced with the Force, it actually sent the Spec Ops commander flying.

Pulling her lightsaber to her with the Force, she briefly considered continuing her mission, but the footsteps and voices of the approaching Covenant reminded her that she was alone and outnumbered here. To make matters worse, she could hear the grunting and snarling as Laccabeus attempted to break through the debris.

Like most Sith, Vestara wasn't willing to sacrifice herself, and made a break for the edge of the Terra, signalling the dropship as she ran. Covenant weapon fire followed her, but her Force enhanced speed soon meant she was out of range, and once the dropship was in sight, she leapt into the hold.

"Get us out of here, now!" The pilot didn't waste a second in complying.

Back on the ground, the Covenant opened fire at the fleeing Imperial ship, but were already too late to do anything. However, the Banshees that flew overhead could change that. The crowd parted as Laccabeus and Halmat walked to the edge of the cliff, the latter's expression hidden behind his helmet, while the former had a smirk on his face.

"That's right." Laccabeus watched as Vestara fled the battlefield. "Run little Sith, run."

* * *

On the deck of the Condor, Aerrow and Piper stood with binoculars in hand, watching as the Covenant and First Order tore into each other like rabid Sky Sharks. It was hard to deny the feeling of grim satisfaction of watching two of their worst enemies as they destroyed each other.

Still, eating flame corn like Finn, Junko, (and surprisingly) Hunter and MK, and laughing as if the whole thing was a movie, seemed kind of heartless. Then again, considering what kind of suffering the invaders had inflicted on the people of Atmos, it was hard to argue that karma was a bitch.

From what they had heard, both sides were taking casualties, hopefully thinning out both sides so that Atmos could eventually kick them out. Unfortunately, that was still some ways away, but it was a step in the right direction.

They had even heard rumors that Vestara Khai had gone after Laccabeus himself, only to flee with her tail between her legs. When Aerrow had heard that, he couldn't help but feel grim satisfaction. His right hand clenched subconsciously at the thought of that Sith Lord, especially after his first fight with her, though he found some comfort when Piper wrapped her fingers between his.

The two of them smiled at each other, but their moment was interrupted by the sound of laughing coming from behind them. Sighing, the Sky Knight and Navigator turned to see their squadmates and the Republic agents looking at a hologram of some sort of show. It definitely wasn't from anything they'd seen on Atmos.

"You know, I'm not surprised that you two aren't taking this seriously." Piper interrupted, gesturing to Finn and Junko, before turning to Hunter and MK. "But I would've thought you guys would want to keep track of what the Covenant and First Order are doing."

"Oh, we are." Hunter said, displaying a hologram in his hand that showed a basic map of Atmos, with various purple and blue dots marking the positions of the Covenant and First Order soldiers. "But who says we can't have a little entertainment as well?"

"And what are you watching exactly?" Aerrow asked.

"The Imperial defeat at Endor." MK explained.

"They weren't kidding when they said said that teddy bears defeated the Empire." Junko said, holding back his giggles.

Eyebrows raised, the Sky Knight and navigator watched at the hologram, seeing as a bunch of Ewoks were beating the crap out of a bunch of white-armored Stormtroopers and Scout Troopers in the middle of a forest. By the end of the video, Piper and Aerrow had to admit that it was actually pretty funny.

"So, if what you showed us is true, then the First Order should be no trouble at all." Finn laughed.

"Eh, not exactly." Hunter said. "There were a number of factors as to why the Empire lost the Battle of Endor."

"Still, for all their supposed skill, the First Order will be beaten by the Covenant." The cryokinetic explained. "It's happened before."

"Frankly, we're just waiting for the inevitable." Beeping on Hunter's wrist drew his attention, and a hologram appeared in his palm. "Jarvis, what do you have for us?"

"It appears the First Order are retreating from the Covenant." The AI said. "The bulk of them are returning through the gateways as we speak."

"Called it." MK said.

"And what about the Cyclonians?" Aerrow asked. "How are they faring?"

"Not very well." Jarvis said. "They met heavy resistance by Covenant raiding parties long before they got to their destinations, and the warnings we gave the free Terras allowed them to get their defenses in place."

The Storm Hawks looked at each other, thankful that their friends were putting up a good fight. Shortly before the First Order and Cyclonians had returned, the two Republic agents had revealed that Cyclonis was also sending her Talons and Night Crawlers to conquer the remaining Terras while the First Order fought the Covenant. Because of that warning, the Storm Hawks were able to funnel some Far Side technology to the remaining Terras, which was clearly being put to good use.

"That reminds me, where is your ship anyway?" Finn asked.

"Jarvis took it to the Far Side." Hunter explained. "Where do you think we got the info that the Cyclonians were trying to attack some of the free Terras?"

Finn and Junko shrugged sheepishly at that while Radarr just rolled his eyes. Aerrow's copilot had just joined the group, and had arrived in time to hear that part of the conversation. Before it could continue, Stork also walked out, a grim expression on his face.

"Stork, everything alright?" Piper asked. It wasn't the expression that had her concerned (it was basically his default), but rather the fact that he would come all the way down through the hanger to talk to them.

"We're getting a distress call from Terra Zartacla." Stork reported. "There's been a massive prison riot and all remaining prisoners have escaped. They say that the Covenant are fighting the First Order there."

"And everywhere else." Hunter interjected. "Shouldn't they have cleared out?"

"They say that the prison rides have been destroyed." Stork replied. "They need help getting out."

"Then we need to hurry." Aerrow stated. "We can't risk them getting recaptured. Or worse."

"Assuming we can." MK interjected. "This might just be another trap, like it was on the Far Side."

"To what end?" Piper countered. "If what you guys said is true, the First Order will be more focused on the Covenant right now. Why would they be trying to draw us in?"

The two Republic agents couldn't fault that logic, but something about this still felt off. Nevertheless, Hunter and MK agreed to come with them, and the Condor made its way toward Terra Zartacla.

* * *

At Zartacla, the Storm Hawks flew down in their skimmers (with the usual exception of Stork), and quietly made their way towards the prison proper. Curiously, there didn't seem to be anyone here at all; no prisoners and no guards either.

Granted, they hadn't actually made it inside, but from Aerrow's experience, there should've been guards around here somewhere. And the lack of prisoners outside was definitely suspicious, especially after the distress signal that had been sent out.

"I don't like this." Aerrow murmured. "Where all the prisoners?"

"Where do you think?" MK replied.

As they approached the prison walls, alarms started blaring and the spotlights surrounding the prison activated, training themselves on the intruders. The Storm Hawks pulled out their weapons in response, while Hunter and MK flared their powers.

"Well, that's a good sign." Finn said sarcastically.

Seconds later, the doors in the wall opened, revealing several Talons holding the leashes of several dog-like creatures. In between them were two other figures: one was rather scrawny and dressed in a dirty Cyclonian uniform. The braces on his teeth showed as he smiled an overconfident smile, believing that his boss had won.

The other figure was rather weighty in stature, wearing a unique Cyclonian uniform. The man was wearing a wide brimmed hat and he held a crystal-tipped whip in his hands. A deep Southern voice was present as he laughed, a voice the Storm Hawks and Aerrow in particular had hoped never to hear again.

"Mr. Moss."

"Aerrow, my boy," Moss started. "It's nice to see that you've surrendered to the inevitable."

"You sent the distress signal," Piper realized. "You wanted to draw us in!"

"And y'all fell for it, hook, line and sinker."

"You idiot." Hunter snarled. "Did you miss the war that's going on out there?"

"They've never shown up here." Mr. Moss replied. "Why should I care?"

"Has this guy lost it?" MK asked.

"Big time." Piper sighed.

"Giving your warden lip is not appreciated." Moss growled, drawing his whip. "But if you cooperate, then maybe, I'll only keep y'all in solitary for eight years rather than ten."

"Ok, we don't have time for this." Aerrow said, completely ignoring Moss. "Finn, Junko," He gestured to the two of them. "Get back to the Condor and get on the guns. We have to assume that either the Covenant or the First Order will come here."

"On it." Finn and Junko said.

"Hey, what are you-?!"

"Hunter, MK, can you alert us when the Covenant show up?"

"Consider it done." Hunter nodded, then put a hand to his ear. "Jarvis, forget monitoring the Far Side for the moment, we need you back here ASAP."

"That's enough!" Moss yelled.

With a crack of his whip, a buzzsaw of red energy flew towards the group. With barely a glance at the lethal projectile, Aerrow drew one of his blades and deflected the buzzsaw back at the Warden, who dived out of the way and nearly crushed Hamish.

"Sorry Warden, we don't have time for your games." Aerrow said. "We have bigger fish to fry."

The Storm Hawks and the Republic agents turned to leave, when suddenly, a dozen Talons appeared from the surrounding forest, holding their staffs tipped with firebolt crystals. Vicious laughter emerged from behind them.

"Alright, Aerrow." Mr. Moss growled as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off. "If that's the way you want to play, we'll do this the hard way!"

Right on cue, a couple dozen skimmers bearing Talons and Night Crawlers flew overhead, half of them landing in a circle around the Storm Hawks. A pair of Cyclonian Destroyers also appeared in the sky, and immediately started shooting at the Condor, which flew in an erratic pattern as Stork moved to evade them. Back on the ground, the Storm Hawks and Republic agents found themselves under the guns of the Talons and Night Crawlers, led by a laughing Warden Moss.

"It's over." The southern accent drawled. "So, y'all gonna come quietly, or not?"

The Storm Hawks pulled out their weapons, as did Hunter and MK, when suddenly, the latter two stopped and laughed nervously, drawing the attention of the Cyclonians and Storm Hawks.

"What's so funny?" Mr. Moss cracked his whip.

"Nothing." Hunter replied. "Though you guys are about to have bigger problems."

"What bigger problems?!"

As if summoned, at that moment, wailing combined with humming noises broke through the tense atmosphere, as Banshees and Phantoms made a beeline towards the Cyclonian Terra. Plasma bolts and fuel rods lanced from the former, aimed for the engines of the Cyclonian destroyers. The warships easily fell before such an onslaught, plummeting smoking towards the Wastelands.

"That." MK simply stated.

The Phantoms flew down towards the ground, plasma cannons firing on any skimmers nearby, providing covering fire for their complements of infantry and vehicles. Anti-air Wraiths were dropped off, and immediately added their own weapons to the onslaught.

While the Cyclonians were distracted, the Storm Hawks raced to their own skimmers, while the Republic agents vanished into thin air. Meanwhile, Mr. Moss leaped to the side as the plasma bolts from a Banshee strafed the ground where he had been standing earlier.

"What are these things?!" Moss all but screamed.

"Mr. Moss, meet the Covenant." Aerrow said. "Covenant, Mr. Moss. I think you guys are going to get along just fine."

And with that, the Storm Hawks drove off into the jungle, trying to avoid the forces of the Covenant. Moss yelled an anger, before turning to Hamish, who was looking torn between running like some of the other guards, or just cowering in a corner and hiding.

"Hamish, get me Bessy." Moss's order snapped him out of his trance for a moment. "I'll get those Storm Hawks myself."

* * *

At a clearing, the Storm Hawks briefly stopped to get their bearings, as well as figuring out their next move. With the Covenant here, it was only a matter of time before they decided to lay waste to the prison. Normally, the Storm Hawks would've just gone to liberate the prison anyway, but since it seemed that Moss had set that up as a lure, it may have been a lie.

It was why Hunter and MK hadn't met up with the squadron yet. The two Republic agents were going to see for themselves if any prisoners were in need of rescuing. The Storm Hawks didn't have to wait long before their radios crackled.

"Moss wasn't lying." Hunter reported. "We're seeing full cells. It looks like he's just been grabbing anyone or anything that he can find."

Well, that complicated things. "Stork, where are you?"

"Just below the Terra." The Merbian helmsman reported. "The Covenant haven't spotted me yet, but I don't know how long that's going to last."

"MK and Hunter will get the prisoners onto the Condor." Aerrow explained. "We'll distract the Covenant and give them the time they need."

He was met by protests from everyone else, especially the two Republic agents. "Aerrow, that's insane!" MK protested. "We can distract the Covenant-"

"There's no time to argue!" Aerrow interrupted. "I doubt the Covenant's going to leave the prison alone for too long. Once they deal with the Cyclonians, they'll tear the prisoners apart."

There was a moment of silence before the Republic agents spoke again. "Alright." Hunter sighed. "We'll get the prisoners out of here. Just... be careful."

"We will." Aerrow acknowledged and turned off his comms. Turning to his team, he asked. "Are you guys ready?"

They all nodded, looks of determination etched on all of their faces. "So all we need to do now is find the Covenant."

Right on cue, a force of Covenant Ghosts and Choppers charged through the forests of Zartacla, coming across the Storm Hawks. The riders laughed at the fresh prey they had found amongst the Cyclonians.

"Found them." Finn sqeaked.

"Split up!" Aerrow yelled.

They did, evading plasma and autocannon fire as they drove through the trees. Aerrow was being followed by two Choppers while Junko was chased down by one. Finn was being chased by three Ghosts while Piper seemed to merit five.

Aerrow rode through the dense forest, weaving in and out of the trees. His pursuers weren't nearly as subtle, crushing through the undergrowth and scything down trees, even as inaccurate cannon fire filled the air, all attempting to bring him down.

Having reached the edge of the foliage at the cliff, Aerrow deployed the skimmer's wings and the two of them took off into the sky. The Choppers lacked that ability, and having been too enthralled with the chase, were unable to stop in time. The Brute vehicles hurtled off into the Wastelands, their riders roaring in anger and fear all the way down.

Aerrow and Radarr cheered, only for the latter to start whimpering when he saw what was in front of them. A flight of Banshees had banked around some clouds and were on an attack vector for them.

"Oh, that's not good." Aerrow muttered, just before plasma bolts and fuel rods started flying.

The Sky Knight gunned the engines and sent his ride into a corkscrew, avoiding the attacks and confusing the enemy pilots. Once they flew past the formation, Aerrow made his presence known on the lead Banshee by landing on top and cutting through the anti-grav pods. Leaping off the now falling aircraft, he landed on his ride just in time for the rest of the Banshees to turn towards him.

...

Meanwhile, Piper shrieked as bolts of plasma and explosive autocannon whizzed past her head. The Ghosts pursuing her had gained another Chopper escorting them, and to make matters worse, a Brute Prowler appeared in front of her, plasma cannon cycling.

Making a hard right turn, Piper managed to give herself a moment of peace as the Covenant had to scramble to avoid ramming each other, though the lack of explosions indicated they had succeeded in stopping in time.

Still, maybe she could change that. Pulling out a crystal, Piper began glowing just as the Prowler followed behind her. Letting the power flow through her, she released an energy pulse not unlike that of a plasma pistol, briefly shutting down the vehicles following her.

Gaining some distance, she transformed to air mode, leaving the Covenant on the ground. As she gained some altitude, she saw her Sky Knight and his copilot being chased down by three Banshees.

Aerrow, as usual, was doing some incredible mid-air rolls and dives that left his pursuers struggling to catch up. Still, he couldn't dodge forever, and plasma bolts were flying uncomfortably close to him.

Pulling out another crystal, Piper flew closer to him as she began glowing with power. Reaching out with the Binding, she directed its energies towards Aerrow. "Storm's Fury!" The Sky Knight began glowing gold, before unleashing a shockwave that crippled the Banshees and sent them falling to the Wasteland.

"Thanks for the save." Aerrow smiled as he flew closer to Piper, who smiled back at him.

"My pleasure." Their smiles vanished as they saw how the battle was going. "Though I think we might be alone before long."

The battle in the sky wasn't going well for the Cyclonians. Though they outnumbered the Covenant, the superior technology of the invading aliens proved their dominance once more, as Talon after Talon was shot out of the sky. Night Crawlers had slightly better luck, but they were only delaying the inevitable, and most had already retreated on Master Cyclonis' orders.

"We need to speed this up." Aerrow put his hand to his ears. "Guys, it's a massacre out here. How's the evacuation going?"

"It's going." Stork replied. "But we'll need more time or everyone's doomed."

...

Elsewhere, Finn attempted to outrun a Ghost patrol, without much success. The heat from the near-misses of each plasma bolt seared his skin, giving him what felt like a really bad sunburn.

"Why do bad guys always chase me?" He complained as another bolt nearly hit him.

The sharpshooter's attention was suddenly drawn to a small red light on a treebranch above. Realizing what that meant, he swerved to the right, narrowly avoiding the Jackal's sniper round. The blond then grinned, an idea forming in his mind.

Activating his front mounted crossbow, he targeted the tree trunk the Jackal was standing on and fired, the crystal tipped explosive hitting just the right area and causing the tree to collapse, taking the Jackal with it.

Gunning the engine, Finn managed to make it under just before the tree crashed into the ground. A scream of fear and a roar of frustration from behind him indicated that his pursuers had been halted by the unexpected change in the terrain.

"Ah yeah!" Finn cheered. "That's what I'm talking about!"

His elation lasted for only a second as he drove into a clearing, right in front of a massive group of Covenant, including a pair of Hunters. The bulk of the aliens were focused on killing a group of Cyclonians, but more than a few, including the Hunters, turned toward him.

"Oh come on!"

Acting quickly, he spun his ride around and drove forward, activating his wings and narrowly avoiding the projectiles and green energy streams that chased him up into the air. Breathing a sigh of relief, he realized it was too soon as more Banshees flew towards him.

"Not again." He sighed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Junko drove through the undergrowth of Zartacla, weaving through the trees in an attmept to avoid the autocannon fire that pursued him. The effort wasn't quite successful, as like the ones that pursued Aerrow, the Chopper drivers were more than willing (and had the capability) to run down obstacles like they weren't even there.

He could almost feel the wheels of the Brute war machine bearing down on him, willing to grind his skyride into scrap metal and him into meaty chunks. He needed a new strategy; then Junko had a brainwave. Activating his Knuckle Busters, the Wallop punched down a tree as he passed by, the angle of the fall causing it to come down on the Chopper.

The rider roared in frustration as he was halted by the plant, causing Junko to sigh in relief. That lasted for all of five seconds before the Chopper's engine broke through the din and made its way after him again.

"Um guys, we have a problem." Stork's voice broke through the radio. "There's a Wraith coming up on the prison, and the evacuation's only halfway done."

"If that thing gets to the building-"

"It'll tear the prison apart!" Piper finished Aerrow's sentence.

"I'm on it." Junko said, abruptly changing direction when out of view of the pursuing Chopper.

Junko drove through the clearing, avoiding the heavy plasma mortar and turret mounted plasma fire of the Wraith tank that bombarded his position. With a heave, he leapt off his ride and punched the turret mounted Brute in the face.

Leaping around to the back of the tank, the Wallop activated his Knuckle Busters and drove one fist into the rear of the tank. The Wraith sputtered and exploded, the blue flames billowing out from where the core had failed. Junko had leapt away just before that happened, and was thrown clear by the explosion.

"Wraith's down." He reported when he got back on his feet. "You guys are good."

Just then, the Chopper that had been chasing him appeared from the treeline. "Uh oh." The rider gunned the engine, sending the massive vehicle toward the Wallop. Junko leapt away at the last moment, avoiding the spinning blades at the front by mere centimeters.

Junko sprinted back to his ride as the Chopper turned around. But despite the Brute's wide turning circle, it was back in pursuit before long. Sparing a glance back, the Wallop saw the Chopper gaining on him and knew he wasn't going to make it.

"Hey ugly!" The Brute looked up at the obnoxious voice. "No one hurts my best friend!"

Finn fired a crossbow bolt from his skimmer, the heavier caliber and explosive crystal tipped arrow impacted underneath the Brute's seat, sending the Chopper flying out of control. "Chica cha." He made his traditional catchphrase.

Meanwhile, Junko had made it back to his skimmer and took to the air, coming up alongside Finn. "Thanks for the help, Finn." The latter smiled and made his normal finger pose in Junko's direction.

The two of them flew over the Terra, meeting up alongside Aerrow and Piper. Around them, the Banshees seemed more occupied with the Cyclonians, to the relief of the Storm Hawks. The squadron flew towards the prison proper, and were gratified to see a line of former prisoners making their way up the Condor's ramp.

"Well, looks like the evac's going well." Aerrow commented.

"With any luck, we'll be gone before the Covenant are done with the Talons." Piper agreed, before her eyes widened in shock.

"Aerrow get down!" Trusting his navigator and love, Aerrow sent his skimmer into a dive, and just in time.

A lance of white energy lanced through the air where Aerrow's head had been a second ago. Spinning around, the Sky Knight saw one of the Spec Ops Elites standing on the side of a Phantom, with a beam rifle trained towards him.

Piper was furious, and unleashed a powerful bolt of energy at the rear fin of the Phantom, which started wobbling as blue fire emerged from the engine. The Elite staggered and barely held on to the side of the dropship as the movements became erratic.

The Phantom flew away, trailing smoke as it moved out of Piper's range. The Crystal Mage smiled in satisfaction as the Covenant dropship ran with its tail between its legs. Aerrow flew up to her and smiled.

"Thanks for the save. Again."

"Hey, where are they all going?" Junko asked, pointing to the Banshees that were also moving away.

"Dudes, looks like they're running home to momma!" Finn laughed.

Aerrow and Piper exchanged a look. They weren't so sure about that. The Banshees pulled back to circle Zartacla, rather than retreating entirely. It appeared that they were waiting for something, which the Storm Hawks didn't like one bit. A moment later, they found out what that something was.

"Evasive action!" Aerrow called as he saw the fuel rod projectiles coming from the Terra.

Green flak bursts exploded all around them, as the two Anti-Air Wraiths began firing on the Storm Hawks. Weaving and spinning, the Squadron was able to avoid the fuel rods as the relatively slow projectiles flew past them.

Finn was unlucky enough for one of the blasts to clip his wing, causing him to fall off his skimmer. Screaming like a little girl, it was halted when he landed crotch first on Junko's skimmer.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked, his voice a little more high pitched than normal.

"Get below their firing angle!" Aerrow shouted, sending his own ride into a dive, followed by Radarr's fearful screech.

Piper and Junko followed seconds later, doing their best to avoid the glowing green projectiles. Flying just above the treeline, the Hawks flew towards the Condor, weaving and juking to avoid the small arms fire coming from below.

"Good news." MK's voice broke through the radio. "We're wrapping up the evac now."

"Understood." Aerrow turned and pointed towards the prison. "Head back to the Condor." The Sky Knight ordered. "We're leaving."

"I wouldn't count on it, son!" The Hawks turned to see Mr. Moss riding Bessy behind them. "You'll all be in your own cells before the day is done."

"Is he for real?" Finn asked, gesturing in exasperation. Radarr's facepalm indicated his agreement.

The Storm Hawks knew that Mr. Moss was rather single minded in his pursuit of who he considered to be outlaws, but he'd apparently gotten worse since they saw him last. His dogmatic pursuit while his Terra was being invaded by advanced aliens was a perfect example of this fact; frankly, they were all wondering how he'd managed to avoid all the Covenant shooting at him.

"Junko, Finn, get back to the Condor and make sure Stork has some cover." The two of them nodded and flew off. Aerrow then turned to his navigator. "Piper, you know what to do."

The Crystal Mage nodded, and followed Aerrow as he turned back towards Moss. "Sorry, Warden. We don't have time to be playing games today." Radarr growled in agreement.

"You're not getting away this time, Aerrow!" Moss' face was almost crimson at this point. "You and your friends won't be leaving this place ever again!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Moss." The Sky Knight looked towards the Crystal Mage. "Piper, now!"

Ignoring Mr. Moss' spluttering anger, Piper pulled out a crystal and directed the energies toward her partner. Aerrow began glowing blue, his flow with the Binding activated. Unaware and uncaring about what the change meant, Mr. Moss swung his whip, sending another energy buzzsaw at the Sky Knight. To his surprise, Aerrow caught the energy in his bare hand, smirking dangerously.

The sheer surprise at that move halted Moss in his tracks. He had never seen Aerrow do something like that before. Suddenly, the Sky Knight hurled the energy buzzsaw (which was now glowing blue) back towards Bessy, which sent Moss spiraling out of control.

So close to the ground, he didn't have time to bail out, and crashed painfully into the wall of the prison proper. Amazingly, Moss was uninjured, albeit groaning in pain. Snarling at the two skimmers as they flew away, he turned just to see a pair of Talons running up to him.

"Sir, we have to leave." One of them said. "The Covenant are closing in!"

"We're not leaving!" Moss snapped. "Not until I have the Storm Hawks behind bars! Now come on, we've got a jailbreak to stop."

The guards hesitated to follow Moss, not liking this at all. Their Cyclonian reinforcements had all but been annihilated by the Covenant forces, and the alien invaders were no doubt crawling all over the Terra. Worse still, was the fact that no First Order soldiers would be coming to help.

The guards themselves couldn't flee, since Moss had all their skimmers locked down, 'to prevent a prison break' he had said. Now, they had no choice but to follow him in his deranged state and hope they could convince him to leave once the escapees had been rounded up. Or more likely, wait until the Storm Hawks had knocked him out, then loot the keys from him.

The Warden walked into the prison courtyard just in time to see the last of his prisoners being led out to the Condor by a pair of armored people. At this point, Mr. Moss was beyond furious and screamed in outrage, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"I am not losing my prisoners again!" The Warden roared, as more Talons appeared and ran to his location. "Nobody will leave ever again!"

Swinging his whip yet again, an energy buzzsaw flew out, only to be intercepted by one of the armored beings, who absorbed the energy with a gold energy field that sprung up around his body. Stunned at the impossibility, Mr. Moss quickly snapped out of his stupor.

"Get them-" He stopped when he realized all his guards were coated in a thick sheet of ice.

One of the armored ones walked towards him, a blue blade of energy wreathed in lightning, emerged from his wrist. With a cry, Moss swung his whip again, only for it to be cut in two by Hunter's energy blade.

Tossing the now useless weapon aside, Mr. Moss charged at the Republic agent with a yell, throwing a punch as he approached. But Hunter effortlessly caught it, twisting the Warden's arm and causing him to scream.

"Not gonna lie." The electokinetic's voice came out slightly muffled from under his helmet. "This is going to hurt. A lot."

Bolts of electricity travelled through Hunter's hand and entered Mr. Moss' body. The Warden screamed in agony, which the last of the prisoners couldn't help but watch and smirk in grim satisfaction. Eventually, the pain was too much, and Mr. Moss collapsed as Hunter cut the electricity.

"Time to go."

The two Republic agents waited until they were the last ones to board the Condor, then told Stork to take off. The rest of the Storm Hawks ran onto the bridge just in time for the Merbian helmsman to bring the Condor up into the sky.

"Stork, get us out of here!" Aerrow ordered.

"We might have a small problem." The helmsman replied.

Banshees began moving towards the Condor, the last of the Cyclonians either dead or fleeing. And with the Condor loaded with so many people, there was only so much they could do to fight back.

"We're doomed."

"I wouldn't bet on that." MK's voice came over the intercom.

Seconds later, the Banshees in their path exploded, no doubt victims of the cloaked _Rogue Shadow. _Regardless, their way was clear, causing everyone on the bridge to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Take us to Atmosia." Aerrow said. "We'll make sure everyone gets to safety."

"Well, this trip went better than expected." Piper walked up beside him. "Especially since the whole thing was another trap."

"Well, Mr. Moss is going to have some problems of his own when he comes around." Hunter stated.

* * *

Back on Terra Zartacla, Mr. Moss stirred. The Cyclonian still felt the sting of 50000 volts coursing through his body, which twitched in pain from one of the aftershocks. This also had the effect of waking Mr. Moss.

The Warden groaned as he came to conciousness. Unfortunately for him, this did not go unnoticed. A vaguely bird-like alien holding a round blue shield screeched in surprise, gesturing at the stirring Mr. Moss. Before the Cyclonian could do anything, he felt something grab him by the chest and effortlessly hoist him into the air.

"Well, well, well." The armored alien growled. "What do we have here?"

Moss whimpered at the sight, his first encounter with the Covenant face to face. The creature was hideous, four mandibles in place of mouth and nose, its eyes were blue and predatory, and it was clad in a dark red armor. It was holding him four feet off the ground, and was surrounded by a pair of those bird-like aliens, and some dimunitive ones wearing gas masks and strange tanks on their backs.

A crackle of energy and glowing blue light drew Moss' attention back to the alien holding him. It was holding a dual-pronged sword of glowing blue energy, which was only inches from his head.

"We have much to discuss."

* * *

On the bridge of the _Intention's Eye, _Laccabeus sat on his throne, overlooking a hologram detailing a map of the known Atmos and statistics of the casualties sustained by his forces and the First Order. Eying the latter in particular, his expression was grim.

The losses his Covenant had sustained weren't as bad as they could've been, but they were certainly far more numerous than he would've liked. Blizzaris, Amazonia, and a half dozen smaller Covenant forces had been struck, and the First Order had struck hard. Even with his own ambush against Vestara Khai, he had lost far more of his own than he would've liked to, regardless of the presence of Spec Ops forces at every location.

That wasn't to say the First Order had come out unscathed, but they were sufficiently capable at hit and run tactics, and with the use of the Cyclonians as distractions, they were able to slip away before they could suffer any significant damage to their forces.

Granted, Laccabeus still had a large reserve aboard the _Intention's Eye, _but they couldn't sustain too many raids before they started to lose more personnel, something which Laccabeus was loathe to do anyway.

His musings were interrupted by Makterbus, who walked up behind him. Turning in his throne, the Shipmaster regarded his second in command, who bowed his head in respect for his High-Chieftain.

"What news from Zartacla?"

"We sustained some casualties, thanks to those Storm Hawks." Makterbus hesitantly replied. "And they managed to get the prisoners out before we could get to them. Fortunately, we were able to capture the guards and the Warden."

"Do they have the intel we need?" Laccabeus asked.

"Yes, Shipmaster." The lesser Chieftain confirmed. "It matches up with everything else we've heard."

"Good, I want an air raid prepped for tonight." The High-Chieftain said.

"By your command." Makterbus bowed his head and left.

Laccabeus turned his throne back and regarded Halmat, who had been looking over intel for his next operation. The Spec Ops commander looked up from his work and walked over to the Shipmaster.

"Have you selected your team?"

"Yes, Shipmaster." The Sangheili replied. "They are the sharpest blades at my disposal. We will have no trouble with the task at hand."

"I don't doubt it." Laccabeus nodded. "You know your target and you know what must be done. Get your forces prepared. You leave for Aquanos tonight."

"On my life, it shall be done." Halmat put a fist to his chest and bowed his head. "We will take the fight to the First Order, or die trying."


	6. Plans and Machinations

The raid came at night for the people of Aquanos. Banshees flew into the bay, unleashing plasma bolts and fuel rod blasts onto the shores and into the houses of the inhabitants. The shipyards were the most heavily damaged as continual bombing runs threatened to tear the shipwrights apart.

In all the chaos, eyewitness accounts were sketchy, but many citizens could swear they saw several Phantoms flying around the Terra, only to be confused by the lack of Covenant infantry being deployed.

In actuality, only a single Phantom had been sent to Aquanos, and the infantry aboard had a very special mission, one which didn't concern the people of Aquanos, but rather the lake that fed their livelihood.

While the Banshee squadron kept the Neck Deeps occupied, no one noticed as the Phantom came to a halt several meters above the surface of the lake, over the cave where the Neck Deeps had last seen I.J. Domiwick.

The hatches on either side of the Covenant dropship lowered themselves, revealing sixteen Elites clad in specialized armor. With nary a whisper, the Sangheili leapt into the lake.

Diving deep down, they found the entrance sealed up from the last time the Storm Hawks had been down here. One Sangheili pulled out a roughly spherical purple device dotted with small spikes and planted it at a weak point in the rock pile.

Swimming away to a safe distance, the Special Operations Sangheili watched as the anti-matter charge detonated, blasting open the entrance to the deep caverns once more. Several large creatures swam out, looking like black skinned whales with glowing red eyes and tusks, but the Elites paid them no mind as they swam into the cavern.

Another Elite pulled out a small silver oval device, and activated it, which flew through the caverns at high speed with beams of light emerging from either side. The Kindler mapped out the caverns as they watched the hologram appear in the top corner of their HUDs.

Following the map, they swam through the depths of Atmos, their goal within reach.

* * *

The sun had barely risen above the horizon when the foghorn blare of the Condor made itself known to the people of Terra Aquanos. The Storm Hawks had heard the distress signal that had been sent out during the raid, but had been too far to make it in time.

Nevertheless, for many of the Aquans, the arrival of the Condor was a sight many were cheering to see, even in spite of the damage that their Terra had sustained. They were a little more wary of the black vessel that appeared out of nowhere and landed beside the airship of the Hawks, but if the rumors were true, then they had as much reason to thank the people onboard as they did the Storm Hawks.

One person in particular was glad to see the arrival of the Storm Hawks, as Triton walked up to greet his old friends.

"Sorry, we're late." Aerrow rubbed the back of his neck and Radarr churred sadly. "We were rescuing some prisoners from Terra Zartacla."

"No need to apologize, laddie." Triton said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tis the Covenant to blame for this, not you."

"Triton, what happened here?" Piper asked as soon as she saw the damage Aquanos had suffered.

"Argh, it was another Covenant raid." The Sky Knight said. "They attacked in the dead of night, targeting the shipyards and anyone out at night. The damage was... considerable."

"And there were no infantry attacks?" Hunter asked. "No forces on the ground?"

"None that we found." Triton replied, his eyes narrowed slightly at the interruption. "Though some report seeing one of their dropships during the night, we haven't found any of their ground forces today."

"I'm assuming you looked for cloaked individuals?" MK asked.

"Aye, we did. There was no trace of them." Triton's eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking they did, laddie?"

Hunter looked out over the lake, his face stoic but his mind wandering. Laccabeus was past the point of launching air raids to frighten the inhabitants of Atmos, so what was the point of this? Granted, the Republic agents still weren't sure as to why they launched an attack on Zartacla either, but that at least, could've been useful for gaining intel on the Cyclonians and First Order. This just made no sense. Confusing matters even more was the fact that some people claimed to have seen a Phantom flying overhead, but no infantry had been spotted in the town.

Jarvis had scanned the town and confirmed that no cloaked signatures were hiding here, so why was a Phantom here? It could've just been that the inhabitants were mistaken, but the electrokinetic sincerely doubted that. But if no ground troops had been landed here, then the only other option was in the lake itself. But, why? What was so important that they needed to deploy troops underwater? And why mask their movements with the attack on the inhabitants? Unless...

"Wait a minute." Hunter stated, looking at both the Storm Hawks and the Neck Deeps. "Didn't Domiwick come to the Far Side through the cave in the lake?"

"Yeah...?" Aerrow said, having a suspicion where he was going with this.

"Oh, I think I know what Laccabeus is doing."

"He's sending his forces to the Far Side!" Piper exclaimed, having caught on herself.

"And crippling our shipyards and destroying our livelihoods was what exactly?" Triton asked rhetorically.

"Nothing more than a distraction and misdirection." MK replied.

"Triton!" One of the Neck Deeps called. "More of those creatures have been spotted in the lake."

"But the only way that could've happened is if-"

"Someone blasted open the entryway." Aerrow finished Junko's thought.

"Looks like the Covenant have found their way to the Far Side." Hunter muttered.

"And I think it's safe to say this war's about to get ugly." MK sighed.

* * *

On the shore of the Far Side, the water stirred at a nearby beach. Seconds later, a black armored Sangheili broke the surface of the water and walked up to the shore, head swiveling and with a plasma rifle in hand.

After scanning the shoreline for hostiles, the Elite then gestured to the water in a beckoning motion. Moments later, fourteen more black clad Elites along with one silver-clad Commander stepped up onto the shore.

Doing their own sweep with their weapons raised, the Elites were relieved to find what the scout signalled had been true; there were no First Order soldiers or Cyclonians present to witness their arrival. Putting a hand to his helmet, the Spec Ops commander activated his comms.

"Shipmaster, we've made it to the Far Side." Halmat reported.

"Very good." Laccabeus replied. "You know what you have to do next."

"It will be done." Halmat promised before shutting off the link and turning to the scout that had signalled them up onto the shore.

"Report." Halmat said.

"All clear." The scout reported. "It appears that the First Order has no idea about this entrance."

"They claim to have learned from the mistakes of their predecessor," One Elite snorted. "And yet they still have the same Imperial arrogance."

"So it would seem." Halmat said simply. "Nevertheless, do not underestimate them."

Discarding their breathing equipment, the Sangheili looked around at the architecture and landscape of the Far Side, already thinking of ways to tear them down with the First Order inside. Halmat's red energy sword briefly flared to life as he tested it for water damage. Turning to his Elites, he ensured that his Ascetic helmet was secure before addressing the Spec Ops group.

"You all know your roles." The commander stated. "We will cut through the heart of Cyclonis' power, establish a beachhead for the Shipmaster's forces and burn any First Order soldier that stands in our way!"

His troops growled in agreement before they split off into separate groups and started making their way toward their objectives, vanishing into the night as their cloaking devices activated. Soon, all that could be seen was a shimmer in the darkness.

* * *

Master Cyclonis wasn't happy. The raid on Atmos proper had not gone quite as planned, although it was still better than expected. Lots of her Cyclonians were dead, and the First Order had inflicted too few casualties on the Covenant to convince them to leave. That wasn't the reason for her displeasure, though.

She was unhappy because Snoke had summoned her to the wreckage of the _Finalizer_ to discuss a new strategy. She was displeased at being ordered around in any capacity, and the only reason she was willing to keep Snoke alive was because the First Order was responsible for many of her latest victories.

She flew her skimmer towards the Star Destroyer, seeing the flares of light as repair droids worked to repair the damaged ship. Hunter's sabotage had ensured that the First Order flagship was stuck on Atmos for a while, though it could be repaired eventually. Meanwhile, the massive AT-AT walkers patrolled around the crash site, while heavy laser batteries had been set up as makeshift anti-air batteries, along with the ship's own weapons.

Fighters, speeders and her Night Crawler escorts formed up around her and guided Cyclonis to a side hanger. As she landed in the large grey hanger, she couldn't help but marvel at the advanced nature of the Imperial technology. Her musings were interrupted as a pair of black armored Shadow Troopers walked towards her as she dismounted.

"Master Cyclonis, we are honored to have you onboard." One trooper said, bowing his head slightly. "We will take you to General Snoke."

"Lead the way."

She had already sent some of her Talons and Night Crawlers ahead to prepare for her arrival. It didn't take long for her escorts to come across several Night Crawlers waiting for her. They bowed their heads in respect before following the procession.

It didn't take long before the Shadow Troopers came up to a large door. Opening it, they gestured to the interior, allowing Cyclonis to go first. Inside was a dim and slightly cavernous room, with one side completely covered in nearly thirty cuboid rooms with force fields over the entrances, which she belatedly realized were some form of cages.

Several of her Talons and Night Crawlers were already in the room, alongside Phase I Dark Troopers and several Shadow Troopers. Among the large group were the First Order leaders: Snoke was present by hologram, but everyone else was here in person.

As Cyclonis approached the cages, she saw that her Talons and Nightcrawlers had backed away, expressions of fear on their faces. The fact that the latter were terrified was surprising enough to Cyclonis, as she had never seen them express true fear before, not even when threatened with her wrath. So what did the First Order have that made them so afraid?

She hovered up to the leaders of the First Order, an argument already in play.

"Sir, I must strongly protest against this course of action." Hux said to Snoke's hologram. "The fact of the matter is, we have absolutely no way to control the specimens if they're unleashed."

"I agree." Phasma said, another first that Cyclonis had seen. Hux and Phasma were almost never in agreement. "There is a good chance that they will turn on our troops."

"So we make sure they're deployed in Covenant held areas." Snoke replied dismissively. "They'll be as much a problem for Laccabeus as they would be for us."

"With all due respect, sir." Phasma protested. "Even if we could insure that they would only attack the Covenant, if we intend to use this planet as a base, we'll still be stuck with them. We'll just be trading one alien problem for another."

"It's risky." Vestara interjected. "But no conflict is ever won without risk. Besides, with the type of crystal technology that exists on this world, we may actually find a way to control them."

Oh, please." Hux snarled. "These aren't your Sith abominations. All methods of controlling these things have failed."

"Tell that to the Separatists." Vestara snapped back.

"Enough!" The argument halted in its tracks as Cyclonis floated into the room. "I believe I should be the deciding voice here." She glared at Snoke and Vestara as the crystals in her staff glowed brighter. "Especially when you're planning to release something onto my world."

Mollified, the First Order leaders bowed their heads in submission. Satisfied, Cyclonis landed on the ground and walked towards them. "Now, what exactly are you planning to use against these Covenant?"

Wordlessly, Phasma gestured to a series of cells at the side of the room. Each had a blue force field in the place of a door and it appeared that the light fixtures within each cell had been damaged, leaving the force fields as the only light source. Nevertheless, she could see shapes moving in the darkness. Squinting, she was surprised when something lunged at the field, causing her to take an involuntary step back.

"This is what we plan to use." Snoke explained. "Designation XX121."

The creatures were jet black, with elongated heads, dorsal tubes on their back, and tails that ended with sharp spear tips. Inside their mouths, there was a smaller inner mouth that could be seen whenever they hissed. Sharp claws looked strong enough to cut through steel.

"What are these creatures?"

"One of the deadliest species in the multiverse." Hux replied. And with that, the more thorough explanation began. As Cyclonis listened to the information about these creatures, her expression changed into a vicious smile as she envisioned all that her enemies would suffer at the hands of these beings.

She also noticed the expressions on each of them change. Hux's disgust increased as he explained about their life cycle, Phasma tensed up as he explained what they would do to anyone they captured. Even Vestara had a small but noticeable expression of revulsion as she looked over the cages.

"These will do nicely." Cyclonis whispered.

"That's a mistake." Phasma stated, surprising Cyclonis with her outburst. The Captain rarely spoke against her superiors, and never in such a blunt manner. "These things are only useful as an area denial weapon at best."

"And that's only if we want to deny the entire planet to the Covenant." Hux added.

"You're both overreacting." Vestara stated. "They aren't nearly that dangerous, especially not here."

"We still lack any mean to control them." Phasma now turned to Snoke. "Sir, whatever the Separatists have done to control their specimens, the fact of the matter is that we lack the same ability."

"You should have a little faith, Captain." Cyclonis interjected. "There is nothing I cannot bind to my will."

"With all due respect Master," Hux stated. "You've never dealt with something like this before."

"It doesn't matter." Snoke interjected before his subordinates could anger their employer any further. "They're just as much of a threat to the Covenant as they are to us. And I imagine even they would have trouble dealing with threats in the Wasteland."

"Bring them to the doors." Cyclonis ordered. "We shall see just how dangerous your little pets can be."

* * *

At a small tower far from any source of civilization in the Far Side, several Shadow Troopers stood guard alongside some of Cyclonis' Night Crawlers. This was far from just a simple outpost; the tower contained a mechanism that allowed a portal to be generated to the other end of Atmos. This was just one of several waystations capable of such a feat, and for that reason, they were heavily guarded.

Initially, security around these buildings had been rather lax, to the annoyance of the First Order. Talons and civilians had held control over the doors, and weren't as military minded as the Imperials would've liked. That had changed when the Storm Hawks had managed to steal a crystal from one outpost that allowed them to create their own doors from their airship.

After that fiasco, the previous workers were removed and replaced with more willing operators, who would guard the towers with their lives. Now though, this particular tower had orders to prepare for yet another activation, though they were to wait until some special cargo had been brought in first.

Just outside the tower, one Shadow Trooper was patrolling the cliff, making sure that no one would sneak into the outpost that way. At least, that's what the Imperial soldier had thought. Until two prongs of blue energy erupted from his chest and he was hoisted into the air.

Captain K'nuski looked around, and once he was certain his victim hadn't had a chance to call for help, tossed the body over the cliff that he and his partner had spent the last half an hour climbing up.

"Use stealth and discretion." K'nuski said, turning to his partner. "If the reports are true, then this place is critical to our campaign against the First Order."

Once the other Elite gave his acknowledgement, the two Spec Ops warriors made their way into the outpost, quietly dispatching any sentry they came across. The Night Crawlers, for all their fierceness were easily dispatched by the two Sangheili. The Shadow Troopers were more difficult, but for Halmat's best warriors, it was still easy enough.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in the control room, surrounded by several bodies. K'nuski listened as the last survivor started choking to death on his own blood, then silenced him by impaling him in the stomach. Once he was sure that no one was coming, the Elite activated his comms.

"Commander, we have control of the outpost." K'nuski said. "It appears that we can create the portals to the other side from here."

...

"Good work." Halmat replied, cloaked and standing outside the wall of a city. "I will alert the Shipmaster to this development. Be ready to open a portal if necessary."

Receiving K'nuski's acknowledgement, the Spec Ops commander closed the comm link and continued his observation. Considering the Shadow Troopers and Storm Commandos on the wall, and the scout walkers patrolling the outside, it appeared that this city was important to the First Order.

Add in the Night Crawlers and airspeeders patrolling the skies, and the massive tower in the center of the city, and it appeared that this was Master Cyclonis' capital city in the Far Side. While the rest of his Sangheili had scattered all over the region looking for targets of opportunity, Halmat had given himself the most important job of scouting for the main fortress.

And it appeared that he had found it. Though the location of the First Order's Star Destroyer was still unknown, this was one of the more heavily defended locations on the planet, and there were few reasons for that.

Still, judging from the defenses, the Covenant would need some heavy firepower to break through those walls. And even if they controlled the Far Side portals, it would still take too long to deploy what they needed. Unless it came in the same way Halmat's forces had.

"Shipmaster, we have found one of the portal generators. Two of my Sangheili have taken it now."

"Very good." Laccabeus complimented. "I'm assuming they can get them working?"

"Yes, Shipmaster. However, we will need heavy artillery for our attack, and I doubt we can deploy what we need through the portal."

There was a moment of silence as Laccabeus digested this information, no doubts speaking with the rest of his commanders about what needed to be done. Eventually, the Shipmaster came to a decision.

"Very well, we will deploy what you need through Aquanos." Laccabeus said. "Once it's arrived, open the doors and let our forces through. With their combined strength we will tear the First Order apart."


	7. Squadron Logs: Part 3

Squadron Log

_This was a very trying day. When we fought to stop Cyclonis from rebuilding her Storm Engine, we got into conflict with Cyclonis' new right hand woman, someone named Vestara Khai. And we thought the Dark Ace was bad. She was something that our new allies called 'a Sith Lord,' and with the ability to tap into 'the Force,' which apparently grants telekinetic abilities, enhanced speed and strength and shooting lightning from one's fingertips._

_All I know for sure is that she came far closer to killing us than Cyclonis or the Dark Ace ever did. And if what Finn and Junko said is true, then even the less capable leaders of the First Order are no slouches in a fight._

* * *

Inside Master Cyclonis' palace, dozens of Night Crawlers and Imperial technicians were working on Cyclonis' Storm Engines and working to integrate the Atmosian technology with Imperial power systems. Overlooking the project was General Snoke, Captain Phasma and Cyclonis' red eyed Night Crawler leader.

"An intriguing design." Snoke stated, turning to the Night Crawler. "Once this world belongs to your Master, I think I would like to buy my own Storm Engines."

"The decision is the Master's, not mine." The Night Crawler hissed. "We will ensure her will is carried out."

"Of course." Snoke said politely, though it was hard to miss the Cyclonian's hostility. Presumably, they were all a little miffed that the First Order had become Cyclonis' new favorite pets to call on in enforcing her will.

"And where exactly is Vestara?"

"She is in the upper level planning room with Master Cyclonis." The Night Crawler replied. "Your Sith predicted the presence of the Storm Hawks soon, and said the Sky Knight and the Crystal Mage will be there."

"Of course she did." Phasma sighed. "Your Master is aware that unlike the Oracle, Force-assisted Foresight is not always accurate?"

"Perhaps." The Night Crawler's voice sounded soft and deep at the same time. "But we will be ready for them all the same."

Suddenly, the fortress was rocked by a loud explosion, causing the inhabitants to stumble and/or fall. Regaining her balance, Phasma put her hand to her helmet and listened to the reports before turning to Snoke.

"Sir, we're under attack, but the sentries are reporting that they don't know where the fire is coming from."

"It's the Republic agents." Snoke scowled. "Get the interior guards on alert. They and the Storm Hawks won't be long."

* * *

First Order soldiers and Night Crawlers ran through the halls of the palace, armed and ready to deal with the incoming intruders. Or so they thought. One of the palace walls disappeared in a massive explosion, sending any nearby defenders flying.

A loud foghorn blared through the opening as the Condor approached, any anti-aircraft cannons that would've stopped it having been annihilated by the _Rogue Shadow_. With a battle cry, the Storm Hawks leapt off the deck of their airship into the palace proper, engaging in CQC with the still disoriented defenders.

The tide of battle looked ready to turn as Terror Troopers and Dark Troopers appeared to fight the Hawks, but were surprised themselves by the appearance of Hunte and MK, who made short work of the Imperials with blasts of ice and lightning.

"We gotta hurry." Hunter said as the last body fell. "Reinforcements will be here soon." Aerrow nodded.

"Finn, Junko, Radarr." He gestured to the three of them. "Help MK and Hunter take out the Storm Engine. Piper and I will go after Cyclonis."

He got acknowledgements from all three of them. Normally, he would have loathed splitting the team up like this, but he didn't have much of a choice. Far Side designed Cyclonian Destroyers and the Imperial escort carriers that the First Order had were already on their way here. They had to finish up this mission as quickly as possible.

"Be careful." Hunter's voice brought Aerrow out of his musings. "If Vestara Khai is with Cyclonis, use caution in dealing with her."

The Storm Hawks had been briefed on Vestara Khai and her training in the Sith arts. She often worked with the First Order, and if she was here, then their mission would be a bit trickier. Aerrow and Piper nodded in acknowledgement of the electrokinetic's warning, before the two groups split up.

...

In the foyer that was situated just before the room to the Storm Engine, dozens of Shadow Troopers and Night Crawlers had gathered waiting for the approaching intruders. Taking cover behind whatever they could find, the First Order soldiers had their weapons aimed at the only doors, while the Night Crawlers stood in the open with their own weapons pointed as well, in contrast to the tactical methods of their Imperial allies.

The soldiers were still aiming their weapons at the door when the wall to the right side collapsed in a flare of debris and dust. Junko roared a battle cry, punching the nearest Shadow Trooper with his Knuckle busters and sending him flying into the ceiling.

Finn rolled in after him, firing arrows at the Night Crawlers, his enhanced crystals breaking through their Far Side equipped shields with ease. Radarr leapt onto the head of one Shadow Trooper, disorienting him and causing his blaster fire to hit a couple of his own soldiers.

Hunter's electricity lashed out, striking both Imperial and Cyclonian alike, occasionally chaining from one target to another. MK's ice flash froze several of them in their tracks, allowing the others to shatter them.

Eventually, the Storm Hawks and Republic agents had managed to take down every soldier in the room. Finn was breathing heavily, as was Radarr, while Junko was panting slightly, but was doing much better than the other two. Hunter and MK, on the other hand, didn't even seem to be out of breath, though considering they were wearing full helmets over their faces, the three Storm Hawks couldn't tell for sure.

"So, where to next?" Finn asked in between breaths.

MK held up a hologram in her hand. "Power readings indicate that the Storm Engine is in the next room." She pointed to a large door. "So, we just have to go through the First Order soldiers between us and it."

Finn, Junko and Radarr looked at each other nervously. If this room was already swamped with guards, none of them wanted to think about what their actual target was protected with. Though their personal shield crystals hadn't taken any significant damage, that was liable to change in the next room, Republic agents or not.

* * *

Master Cyclonis watched from her location as the security feeds painted a disturbing picture. The new allies of the Storm Hawks were carving their way through the First Order, and soon they would be at the Storm Engine. She couldn't afford to lose another one, not again.

"Snoke, the Storm Hawks are just outside the door." She said over the comlink.

"We're ready."

Sure enough, a large gathering of their best troops was protecting the Storm Engine. Consisting of Shadow Troopers, Terror Troopers, Storm Commandos, and even Phase I and Zero Dark Troopers, they were ready for anything.

Their weapons were nothing to laugh at either. Many soldiers were holding heavy blasters and grenade launchers, and Snoke himself was even sporting a rocket launcher of his own, while Phasma was wielding a heavy blaster.

Alongside Cyclonis' own Night Crawlers, who were all equipped with Far Side harnesses, and there was no possible way that the Storm Hawks or the Republic agents would be able to even get to the Storm Engine. Or so she hoped.

There was a flash of light as the camera Cyclonis was watching was blinded as the door to the Storm Engine fell down. Every First Order soldier and Night Crawler in the vicinity immediately opened fire, sending a wave of energy bolts through the doorway.

Snoke sent a couple of rockets through for good measure, which created blinding explosions of light for Cyclonis to see. After 30 seconds, Phasma gave the order to cease fire, and in another two seconds, utter silence reigned.

"You four." Snoke gestured to a squad of his Shadow Troopers. "Go check outside. If they're dead, I want to know about it."

The soldiers nodded and entered the foyer, which was now pock marked with blaster scarring and craters from the heavy weapons fire. But there was no sign of either the Storm Hawks or the Republic agents.

"Sir, we have nothing." The lead soldier reported. "There's nothing here."

"Then they're not dead." Phasma stated.

"Stay on alert." Snoke agreed. "They're not done yet."

No sooner had he said that when the walls on the left and right of the room exploded, throwing debris and dust into the air. Cyclonis watched as Hunter came from one side, followed quickly by Finn and Radarr, while MK came from the other side, trailed by Junko.

In the chaos and confusion, the First Order and Night Crawler retaliation was sporadic and disorganized, allowing their attackers to sow even more disorder. Only Phasma, Snoke and those closest to them were able to react with any sense of control.

Phasma herself took aim with her blaster, letting loose a volley of red bolts that tracked towards Hunter, while Finn and Radarr ducked. A couple bolts impacted their shields, before Hunter was moving again, bolts of lightning felling soldiers nearby. All the while, the Republic agent was laughing.

"You dictators and your superweapons." Hunter snorted as he nimbly avoided Phasma's blasterfire. "I would've thought you'd have learned from those after what happened to the Death Stars."

He fired a blast of lightning at the Storm Engine, only for it to be intercepted by an energy field that sprung up around the weapon. From her vantage point, the dictator smirked. Cyclonis remembered what happened with the last one, and had taken extra precautions this time around.

"We have learned." Snoke snarled, as Hunter avoided one of his missiles. "You and your Republic think you're so special? Once we gain our rightful place among the multiverse, the Republic and the Separatists will be nothing more than a memory."

"Wow, I didn't realize you were this delusional." Hunter fired a bolt of lightning at Snoke, only for it to catch a Phase I Dark trooper that moved in at just the right time. "You really think you can take the multiversal superpowers on?"

"The Republic is pathetic!" Snoke yelled as a missile lanced from his launcher, only to be absorbed by a wall of ice that sprung up from nowhere. "Where are they now? They are too weak to stop us themselves! They can only send you peons to do their jobs."

"You deluded idiot." MK snorted. "The Republic and Separatists are dealing with an extragalactic parasite that can make your precious Force into its bitch. I don't see you doing anything to deal with the Flood."

From her location in the security room, Cyclonis witnessed a small but noticeable shiver crawl up the spine of every First Order soldier in the vicinity when the 'Flood' was mentioned. They were willing to do incredibly immoral things without batting an eye, but a single name drew an incredibly fearful response.

Her musings were interrupted when she saw Aerrow's pet rodent Radarr sneaking through the fighting and making it to the crystal that powered the force field. She grabbed the microphone to shout a warning, but it was too late. The monkey smashed the crystal, lowering the barrier in a flash of light.

Snoke noticed the barrier dropping and shouted "Protect the Engine!" But it was too late. Hunter unleashed a storm of lightning into the machine and short-circuited it. The electric energy fried the internal mechanisms, leaving the Storm Engine and the generator it was attached to as nothing more than useless scrap metal.

The resulting electrical distortion disrupted the camera feeds in the room, causing Cyclonis to scream in anger. She grabbed her staff and was about to go deal with the issue herself, when she saw movement on another screen. Seeing who it was, her frustration changed to an evil smirk, as she changed her direction.

Despite what had just happened with the Storm Engine, she kept her emotions relatively in check, sticking with the second half of her plan. Frankly, she was looking forward to this.

It was time to see how well Vestara Khai handled herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aerrow and Piper had made it into the upper levels of Cyclonis' palace, and were now entering the planning room of the dictator. With the distraction downstairs, most of the guards had left their posts to go help, leaving the two of them with easy access to Cyclonis' offices.

Normally, the two of them would've been loathe to send the rest of their team into something that dangerous, but with Hunter and MK present, the Sky Knight and the Crystal Mage felt a little more reassured. It also helped that Jarvis had determined that Cyclonis wasn't present downstairs, which meant Finn, Junko and Radarr were safe from her.

Of course, that also meant that the dictator was likely up here, which was why the two of them had come in prepared. Still, it was eerily quiet, which was concerning to the Storm Hawks.

"Where is she?"

"No idea." Aerrow replied. "If she's not at the Storm Engine, maybe she's hiding." Not that he actually believed it for a moment.

"I doubt it." Piper said. "Cyclonis wouldn't run away, not with the First Order by her side."

"Agreed." The Sky Knight responded. "Still, where is she?"

"Oh, don't worry about her."

The voice rang out from the shadows as its owner walked into view, startling Aerrow and Piper. Illumination appeared from the fixtures overhead. The darkness receded, giving the two Storm Hawks their first look at Cyclonis' new second in command/liason with the First Order; Vestara Khai.

She was a relatively young woman, looking to be in her early twenties. She was dressed in a black bodysuit, with only her head uncovered. She was a fairly attractive woman, with relatively flawless skin. The only blemish on her (besides the paint lines below her eyes) was a small scar in the corner of her mouth, which gave her the constant appearance of a smirk.

She walked towards them with a cool confidence lacking in fear. Pulling the small silver cylinder from her waist, it ignited with a snap-hiss into a glowing red shaft of energy. Twirling the blade a couple times in her hand, she halted a respectable distance away.

"You should be more concerned about me."

Aerrow pulled his blades from his back while Piper readied her own staff. The latter also began glowing with the crystal energy that was flowing through her. Slowly, the combatants circled each other, avoiding the obstacles in their paths.

"I'm assuming you're Vestara Khai?"

"You are well informed." Vestara mocked. "I'm sure Hunter and MK told you all about me."

"You got that right." Piper shouted. "You can't beat both of us."

"Wanna bet?"

From her off hand, streams of lightning lanced out, striking Aerrow. The Sky Knight screamed in agony, the torturous nature of the lightning far more painful than any crystal attack. Suddenly, a blue shockwave caused her to stumble back. Wasting no time, Piper moved to Aerrow, allowing him to absorb some crystal energy to recover from the pain.

"You okay?" She asked. Aerrow clutched her hand and gently squeezed it.

"I'll be fine."

Meanwhile, Vestara had recovered from the shockwave, and had just seen the last few seconds of their little exchange. In spite of her studies of her opponents, she hadn't realized that Aerrow and Piper were a couple. Then again, despite her teasing of them, Cyclonis either didn't know or didn't care. Still, it gave Vestara pause.

She had noted that Aerrow had some similarities to Ben Skywalker; besides the physical traits like red hair and such, but in personality as well. He was a genuinely nice person, and cared about everyone around him, but put him in combat, and he was a force to be reckoned with. Now, seeing Aerrow with Piper like that, it reminded her of what she and Ben once had.

What she had lost with him.

"You're together?" She whispered in a soft voice before it hardened into steel. "Then you will die together!"

With that, she charged, lightsaber raised, sending a Force push in Piper's direction as she made a beeline for the Sky Knight. Aerrow barely had enough time to intercept the red shaft of energy with his own daggers. The Sith held him in a blade lock, before breaking off with blinding speed, far faster than Aerrow could move.

"Speed of Light!"

Suddenly Aerrow vanished in the blink of an eye, as Vestara swung her saber towards his exposed midsection. She stumbled a little bit from her overcommitted attack, before Aerrow appeared right beside her and punched her in the face.

Shaking off the disorientation, Vestara quickly realized that the two of them were glowing, and that meant that Aerrow's little speed boost had come from Piper. Indeed, the two Storm Hawks were grinning in spite of themselves.

"You're not the only one with abilities." Aerrow said.

"Do you really think that you can defeat us together?" Piper added.

"Maybe not." Vestara admitted, before smirking evilly. "Let's fix that, shall we?"

She stretched her hand out towards Aerrow, who was sent flying into the wall from the Force Push. "Aerrow!" Piper called as she quickly turned towards him. Seeing that he was stunned, but otherwise alright, she turned her attention back to the Sith.

"Let's relieve you of your power." Vestara muttered, before whipping out her shikkar and hurling it at Piper.

The Crystal mage saw it and managed to leap to the side to avoid it. Unfortunately, Vestara's Force hold on the blade ensured that it came back around and caught Piper in the shoulder.

Groaning in pain, the Storm Hawks navigator fell to her knees, grabbing at the knife handle. She pulled it out, only to find that the blade had broken off and was still within her arm. Barely holding back a scream, she clutched her bleeding shoulder with her other hand.

"Well, that was a mistake." Piper looked up to see Vestara standing over her, lightsaber in hand. "You know, I wonder why Cyclonis ever considered you two to be such a threat. You certainly don't look like it."

The Sith raised her lightsaber for the killing blow, only to hear what sounded strangely like an eagle cry. Spinning around, she was able to absorb Aerrow's Eagle Claw with her lightsaber, but the force of the blast still sent her flying back.

The Sky Knight rushed over to the Crystal Mage, who had already pulled out a crystal and was releasing its energies on her shoulder. The glass blade slid out the wound, which quickly sealed shut.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm alright." She said after a moment. Piper turned to look at the prone form of Vestara, who was groaning in pain herself. "Looks like you did a number on her."

"That was almost too easy." Aerrow murmured, drawing his blades. "I don't like this."

Walking over to the Sith, Aerrow stood tall with his blades at the ready while Vestara was lying on the ground in pain. Suddenly, the Sky Knight started gasping and was lifted into the air by an invisible force, dropping his daggers in the process and clawing at his throat. Vestara had her arm out and rose to her feet.

"Impressive." The Sith applauded, pulling out her lightsaber. "But it won't save you."

"Leave him alone!" Piper's shout was punctuated by a blast of energy which sent Vestara flying again.

Controlling her momentum with the Force, the young Sith stuck a three point landing and glared at Piper. Aerrow had also recovered his blades and stood by the crystal mage. The two of them were now glowing blue, with the 'Perfect attunement' as Cyclonis had called it, increasing their power together.

"It's over, Vestara!" Aerrow shouted. "You can't beat both of us."

"But I can." A voice came from behind them.

The two Storm Hawks turned in time to be hit by a crystal energy blast. Rising to their feet, the two of them saw that Master Cyclonis herself was here, apparently having decided that activating her Storm Engine was less important.

Aiming her staff, she unleashed a stream of red energy, which Piper countered by firing a stream of blue energy from her hands. The two of them were locked in a beam war while Aerrow and Vestara warily circled each other.

"Piper's mine." The Cyclonian ruler said. "You take Aerrow."

Vestara smirked, and charged at the Sky Knight. Her lightsaber was just a blur, and Aerrow struggled to even parry her attacks. Eventually, the Sith sped her attacks up even more, until finally she got an opening. With a quick slash, her lightsaber blade went through Aerrow's wrist, causing his right hand and blade to fall to the floor.

The Sky Knight screamed in agony, clutching the stump on his wrist. The sheer pain in his voice caused Piper to turn in shock, distracting her long enough for Cyclonis to hit her with an energy blast. She landed near her Sky Knight, barely concious as she reached her hand toward him.

"What shall we do with them, Master?" Vestara asked.

"We'll bring Piper with us." The dictator replied. "I want her to know just how badly she's lost."

"And Aerrow?"

"He's all yours." The crystal witch said.

The young Sith held her lightsaber blade over Aerrow's chest. The wounded Sky Knight and stunned crystal mage couldn't do anything to stop this now. She was about to plunge the crimson blade through his heart when a voice called out her name.

"Hey, Vestara!"

Pausing for a single moment, that was all Hunter needed as a bolt of lightning slammed into her and sent the Sith flying. Shaking of the dizziness, she glared at her attacker, really sick of being tossed around like a rag doll.

But she was even more worried about the two Republic agents in front of her. Apparently, the divide and conquer strategy hadn't worked quite as intended, and if the two superhumans were here, then that meant the Storm Engine was also destroyed. And Cyclonis must've made the same leap in logic, as she looked absolutely furious.

She pointed her staff at Hunter, only to be flash frozen in a block of ice. MK uncloaked as well, holding a strange weapon in her hands. This M-622 Avalanche had been particularily modified allowing the Republic agent to enhance the ice heavy weapon with her own powers.

"You'll pay for that!" Vestara shouted.

Leaping forward, the Sith swung her lightsaber, only to be intercepted by Hunter's electro blades. Grunting, the Republic agent broke the blade lock and unleashed a stream of lightning, forcing Vestara to block it with her lightsaber.

"Let's get them out of here."

MK helped Piper up, and the two of them grabbed Aerrow. The Sky Knight was in shock, but could still move with Piper's aid. The two of them led the way out of the building while MK waited for the perfect opportunity.

Seeing a weak ceiling coloumn, the cryokinetic froze it with the Avalanche. "Hunter!" She yelled. The electrokinetic looked up and nodded, briefly breaking off his attack on Vestara to destroy the weakspot. The ceiling collapsed on the Sith Lord, who was forced to expend her energy on holding the masonry up. The two Republic agents left, Hunter only pausing long enough to gather up Aerrow's severed hand. He didn't exactly feel like having to deal with the First Order cloning Aerrow.

When Cyclonis broke free of her icy prison, she added her own power and helped clear all the debris away. But by the time any Night Crawlers or First Order troopers came to their aid, it was too late. The Storm Hawks and their allies had already fled.

* * *

_Even without any physical boost from Cyclonis' Binding, she nearly killed Aerrow and I, and we only survived due to Hunter's intervention, but not before Aerrow lost his hand. We thought he'd be out of action for weeks while we scoured for another Nil crystal to heal him (or if that failed, fit him with a prosthetic), but what happened next shocked all of us._

...

Far from Cyclonis' palace, the Condor and _Rogue Shadow_ had landed in an outcropping of rocks, where Finn, Junko, and Stork joined Aerrow, Piper and Radarr who were already on board the latter ship. They gathered in the medical bay, where Aerrow was lying on the bed.

"How're you feeling?" Piper asked, kneeling beside the bed and holding Aerrow's remaining hand in her own.

"Better," Aerrow said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Though if I'm honest, I'm not looking forward to a prosthetic."

"That won't be necessary." Jarvis' voice emerged over the intercom as Hunter and MK walked in to the room.

"What does that mean?" Junko asked.

"It means we can regenerate his hand." MK explained. "It won't take very long."

"Wait, really?" Aerrow's eyes lit up. "From scratch?"

"Or reattach your old one." Hunter said, holding up the severed limb. "Though it'll be much quicker and more sanitary to regenerate a new one."

"Wait, then why did you grab his hand?" Finn asked, feeling a little disgusted by them casually holding Aerrow's severed hand. A question and mood that the rest of the Storm Hawks had.

"So the First Order doesn't use the DNA to make clones of Aerrow." Hunter explained. "Lord knows we don't want an evil army of you," He gestured to the Sky Knight. "running around with the First Order."

"Wait, they can do that?" Junko asked.

"Well, I doubt the First Order has that technology here, but it has been done by others before." Hunter said, recalling Luke Skywalker's severed hand and how it had been used to create a psychotic clone of the Jedi Master.

"Call it a precaution." MK explained. "Now though, we should begin the procedure, if that's what you want."

Aerrow was silent for a minute, mulling over the offer. Frankly, it was something he couldn't pass up. This type of injury would've been impossible to repair at all, by either Atmos or Far Side standards, but to them it was apparently a standard medical procedure.

"Let's do it."

"Alright then." Jarvis appeared on a table, and a machine moved towards the stump. "Lay your arm down here and don't move."

Aerrow did so, and he and the Storm Hawks watched in wonder as a light appeared and his hand quickly regenerated. First the bones, then everything else appeared; nerve endings, musculature, veins and arteries, until finally the skin appeared and the light shut off.

Moving his fingers, Aerrow was amazed. It really felt like he hadn't lost it at all. Then he softly smiled as Piper took his regenerated hand in his. Even the rest of the Storm Hawks were smiling in amazement. Naturally, Stork had to ruin the moment.

"I would be careful with that." He said, with his eye twitching. "You may get ghost limb fever."

Everyone looked at him in both confusion and exasperation. Wisely, no one asked exactly what that meant, instead focusing on Aerrow as he sat up and got off the infirmary bed.

"Well, we destroyed Cyclonis' Storm Engine." He said. "And I think we've learned what the First Order is capable of." He looked at his hand. "The hard way."

"Yeah, we sent the First Order packing!" Finn cheered.

"It wasn't easy, though," Junko said, pulling out a dull crystal. "Our shield crystals are fried."

"Ours too." Aerrow admitted, pulling out his own fried crystal as Piper did the same.

"It'll take me forever to fashion new ones." The crystal mage sighed.

"Yeah, about that." MK drawled. "We might have something to help you with that."

The Hawks looked at each other, confused about this development.

"What do you mean?" Junko asked. Hunter gestured into the depths of their ship with a knowing smirk.

"Come and see."

...

_Our new friends took Aerrow to the medical bay of their ship where... they regenerated his hand. In seconds. At best, it would've taken the Nil crystal months to fix that (if it was even possible to do at all), but it only took them a moment. What's more is that according to them, not even the First Order has this technology. And I know for sure that the Far Side couldn't do this._

_After the intense fighting today, our personal shield crystals were completely drained. But it seems Hunter and ML weren't done. They gave us what they called UNSC hard light shield generators. They say the shields are weaker than the ones in their armor, but like those, they will regenerate if not under sustained fire for an extended period. It's definitely a better alternative than what we're currently using._

_But in the end, we managed to beat Cyclonis and ruin her plan of rebuilding her Storm Engine. Atmos and the Far Side are safe, at least for the time being. Still, I can only wonder what Cyclonis and the First Order will do next._

* * *

"No more waiting."

Cyclonis looked over the remains of her superweapon, feeling more furious than she had ever been. No matter where she went, no matter what she did, she could never get rid of those pesky Storm Hawks. Whirling around, she glared at the First Order leaders who had failed to protect the Storm Engine.

"You said you have one of those... 'Star Destroyers' in orbit, right?" They nodded. "Use it. I am done playing games. Atmos will submit or be grounded to dust under my heel!"


	8. Through the Gates

It was midday, and the Storm Hawks had spent the last few hours helping the Neck Deeps as they attempted to reseal the hole and draw those creatures back into the caverns where they had come from.

Hunter and MK on the other hand, had been monitoring Covenant movements for the past few hours, attempting to discover when and where Laccabeus' forces were going to make their move. But it was Jarvis who brought the really bad news.

"We may have a problem."

"Do we even want to know?" MK asked.

"The _Intention's Eye_ is heading this way." The AI replied. That brought the Republic agents up short.

"Come again?" Hunter carefully said.

"Laccabeus is heading towards Aquanos." Jarvis repeated. "I think it's safe to say that we need to evacuate the town."

Hunter was already moving down the ramp of the _Rogue Shadow_, heading directly for the two Sky Knight squadrons as they continued their efforts in wrangling the creatures. Activating his armor, the Republic agent hit the thrusters and landed in their midst.

"Guys, forget the creatures, you need to evacuate the Terra, right now!" The reactions of everyone around were a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Why?" Piper was the first to get over their confusion.

"The _Intention's Eye_ is coming towards Aquanos." Jarvis' hologram appeared in Hunter's hand. "It'll be here within the hour."

"Stork, get back to the Condor." Aerrow ordered. "We're going to need to get everyone out of here as soon as possible."

"Aye, we'll get our people out." Triton sighed. "I'd rather not abandon our home, but it would be suicide to stay here now."

...

Fortunately, it didn't take very long to get the people of Aquanos evacuated. Many were loathe to leave behind their livelihoods, but the looming threat of the approaching assault carrier convinced them they didn't want to stick around.

The Storm Hawks and Neck Deeps aided in the evacuation, with the Skyquod, Condor and _Rogue Shadow_ making separate runs to drop people off at the designated extraction zones. At the hour mark, they had evacuated everyone remaining on the Terra, just as the bulk of the _Intention's Eye_ emerged from the clouds.

While the people of Aquanos were retreating, the Storm Hawks, Neck Deeps and Republic agents, were watching as the massive Covenant warship hovered over the lake of Aquanos, curious as to what Laccabeus was planning. They soon found out.

An object shot out from the _Eye's_ underside at high speed, creating a large fountain of water as it hit the surface of the lake and immediately sunk. Moments later, the carrier's engines flared and the warship turned around and headed right back from where it came from.

"Was that it?" Finn's reaction appropriately summed almost everyone else's. All that build up for one object.

"What was that?" Aerrow asked, looking towards Hunter and MK, who were standing on the top deck of the _Rogue Shadow_.

"A Scarab walker." MK replied grimly. "Looks like Laccabeus is bringing out the big guns."

There was a grim moment of silence before Aerrow turned to his navigator and helmsman. "Piper, Stork, I want you guys to get ready with the gate generator." The crystal mage nodded in understanding and left, but Stork hesitated.

"Wait, you mean-?" Stork stammered but was immediately interrupted by Aerrow.

"Yep, we're going back to the Far Side."

* * *

The waters of the Far Side were relatively quiet and still ever since the Covenant Spec Ops Sangheili had made it to the Far Side. Now though, the water was rippling again, as dozens of bubbles indicated the arrival of something truly massive.

The anti-air turret breached the water first, swiveling around as it scanned for threats. The rest of the massive Scarab walker shortly followed, with water dripping down as the energy shield to the interior deactivated and Covenant soldiers began gathering on the deck.

Halmat smiled behind his helmet as he saw the war machine march its way up the coast, heading to the nearest city, which was under the control of Cyclonian collaborators, and the First Order. Of course, he didn't expect the Scarab to be alone. Activating his comm, he sent a signal to the unit that had already captured one of the portal generators.

"K'nuski, open the gate." Halmat ordered. "It's time for the Shipmaster's forces to join the battle."

...

"It shall be done." K'nuski shut off the comm and turned to the operator.

The two Sangheili had found the man tucked away in a locked room, bound and gagged as a prisoner of the occupying forces. Now, standing around two massive aliens, it was clear the man was wishing they hadn't found him.

"Open the gate." K'nuski ordered, his sword sparking on to remind the human that this wasn't a request.

With a gulp, the human did just that, setting the coordinates to the other side of Atmos, more specifically a location relatively close to Tropica. The two Elites and the terrified human watched as the circular portal opened, a deep violet and blue black color.

...

The _Intention's Eye_ had arrived at its landing area for some time before it detected the creation of a new gateway to the Far Side. Having been anticipating this moment, Laccabeus gave the order for a flight of fully loaded Phantoms and Banshees to enter the portal, the former carrying all sorts of armor and infantry to be used in the upcoming battle.

The first Banshees flew through the rift, their scenery changing from a rather sunny day to a strangely bright night in an instant. The wailing craft shot past the portal station, ensuring that the skies were clear for the rest of their forces.

The Sangheili in the station watched their brethren fly past with grim smiles, while the controller had a dawning look of horror on his face as he saw the alien army moving towards his homeland.

As they watched, a few of the Banshees began escorting Phantoms in directions opposite of where the bulk of their forces were going. As neither Cyclonians nor First Order had gotten word out to their leaders before the two Elites had slaughtered them, it meant the rest of the generators were unaware of what was happening, a level of surprise that the Covenant intended to capitalize on.

But this turn of events would cause an incident that would disrupt the plans of both factions.

* * *

At one of the portal stations, Cyclonian and First Order forces had gathered amongst one of the portal devices from the Far Side to Atmos, having shipped in a special delivery for use against the people of Atmos. With any luck, these weapons would turn the favor of this conflict against the Covenant.

"Sir!" One of the scanning teams called into their commander with a note of alarm in their voice. "We have a problem!"

Before the commander could ask, a familiar wailing split the air, answering the unasked question. A pair of Banshees flew through the clouds, firing plasma bolts and fuel rods at the installation's defenses.

An explosion rocked the building, causing the debris to fall, but also causing the power to go out. The First Order troops and Night Crawlers could see fine in the dark, the former due to their night vision built into their helmets and the latter due to their own natural vision, but the Talons were all rendered blind.

However, a low hissing permeated the dark atmosphere, causing the allied forces to belatedly realize that the containment cells had been running off the same power source. Now, the force fields had been shut off, and movement permeated the pitch black darkness.

"Oh, Fierfek!" Someone cursed.

There was the sound of a scuffle before one Talon was dragged screaming into the darkness. The horror movie vibe was bad enough, but it got even worse when that repeated itself with more Talons and Night Crawlers. Blaster bolts and crystal blasts flew through the dark, only succeeding in creating a disjointed light show.

Death had been unleashed.

...

Outside, the fighting raged on as the Covenant and First Order attempted to destroy each other. Jump Pack Jiralhanae and Sangheili Rangers engaged in aerial conflict with Phase Zero dark troopers, Sangheili swordsman engaged in duels with Phase I dark troopers, and the rest of the Covenant forces viciously fought their way for every inch, slaughtering Cyclonian Talons with ease.

Eventually, two Spec Ops Elites joined the fight, turning the tables on the First Order once more. Even the cloaking terror troopers were all but powerless against the superior skill of the Covenant Spec Ops, and soon all the exterior defenders had been slaughtered, allowing the Covenant to enter unhindered.

The Brute and Elite squad leaders expected to have to fight for every inch as they entered the building, so they were rather surprised when their only opposition came from a group of traumatized Talons who had clearly soiled themselves and weren't even looking in the right direction. They were dispatched with ease, which didn't make their enemies feel any better.

In the building, the Covenant were unnerved to find a complete lack of First Order troopers. Considering the level of resistance they'd been putting up, their numbers should've been relatively high, and yet they weren't here.

Some Yanme'e had been sent into the vents to search for any hidden traps. It appeared they had found some, since none of them had reported back. When they found the Drones, it was from a shattered point in the vents. All of them were in several pieces.

Unnerved, the Covenant forces kept searching, still put off by the lack of any actual resistance, which disturbed them more than any First Order or Cyclonian ambush. The darkened hallways and rooms weren't helping their nerves, as it almost seemed like something deliberately destroyed as many light sources as they could find, forcing the Covenant to switch on their own lights.

One lance of Unggoy and Kig-Yar with a single Jiralhanae minor in charge were searching through the rooms when they came across a rather disturbing sight. Blood had been smeared all over a small room, and considering how fresh this blood was, it couldn't have happened too long ago.

"It appears that the First Order encountered something more dangerous than them." The Brute said, running his claws through the wet blood. One of the Grunts snorted at that.

"Stupid humans, they can't possibly hope to- AAGH!"

Stunned, the rest of the lance turned just in time to see something drag the screaming Unggoy into the darkness. Panicking, the rest of the Grunts and Jackals unleashed plasma bursts and Needler shards into the general direction, succeeding only in creating a disjointed light show.

"Cease fire." The lance leader called. "Cease fire, you fools!"

Reluctantly, they did, turning back to their angry Jiralhanae commander. "You idiots act like children." He snarled. "Try it again, and I'll ensure that your entrails will be used to..." He trailed off at the frightened looks he was getting behind him, followed by a low hissing.

Slowly turning around, the Jiralhanae saw a flash of jet black skin and silver teeth before the creature lunged at him. The rest of the lance started panicking as more of the creatures emerged from the walls and vents.

...

"We're under attack!" One Unggoy shouted. "They killed squad leader! They're coming out of the walls! We need- AHH!"

That report and several others like it had been filtering through the Battlenet in a panicked form, as the Covenant forces clearly encountered what had wiped out the First Order in the building. The two Spec Ops Sangheili looked at each other in alarm and confusion as their allies were being slaughtered by unknown forces.

"We need to leave." One of the Elites said. "We're not going to do any good here, not if so many of our allies are dying."

"Dying to what?" The other Sangheili countered. "We need to give a proper report to Commander Halmat so we know what we're dealing with."

"Well we need to find them first." The other Elite countered, just a low hissing permeated the hallway ahead of them.

An energy sword activated, slicing through the attacking creature like a hot knife through butter. It fell to the ground with a dying screech, green liquid hitting the ground, and melting through the floor. The two Sangheili looked at the body in horror.

"What are these things doing here?"

"It appears the First Order got their hands on them." The other Elite growled. "Without caring about the consequences."

"Well, the Shipmaster must be informed of this. Immediately."

Low hissing and screeching drew the attention of the Elite back to the hallway, where dozens of the black creatures were crawling through, on the ground, on the sides of the walls, and on the ceiling.

The reaction of the Sangheili could be accurately summed up with a single human phrase: "Oh, shit."

* * *

While the nightmare had been unleashed on the portal generator, the true battle between the Covenant and the First Order had begun in earnest. Imperial AA fire forced the Phantoms to deploy their complements some distance from the city wall, which forced the Covenant into a head on assault.

That was perfectly fine for the alien invaders, whose Wraith tanks started shelling the walls with plasma mortars, boiling and melting through the structure and causing it to collapse in several areas.

In response, the large main gate opened, and then was immediately blasted off its hinges as an All Terrain Armored Transport plodded its way through the ruined gate, trailed by hover tanks and smaller walkers.

The large AT-AT fired its main cannons on the nearest Wraith, turning it into chunks of flaming debris. Swiveling its head, the walker targeted another Wraith, burning through it with relative ease.

A loud roar signalled a beam of green plasma, which sweeped in a line and vaporized squads and smaller vehicles with impunity. The Scarab walker pounded its way through the battle field, its AA turret targeting any aircraft that attempted to get close.

Soon, the two walkers ignored everything but each other, as the AT-AT poured fire into the Covenant war machine. Unfortunately for it, the Scarab's armor held, and it was free to retaliate with its focus cannon.

The AT-AT survived the initial blast, and attempted to retarget the Scarab, but the more agile walker had already strafed outside its line of fire and was charging up another blast. In desperation, the soldiers aboard attempted to rappel out to the ground, with mixed success.

The Scarab burned through the troop compartment, flash frying several squads still waiting to jump. This also had the side effect of burning through the ropes, leaving the Shadow Troopers on them to plummet to the ground.

Now unsteady, the Imperial walker crashed to the ground, having sustained all it could from the Scarab's onslaught. With their biggest gun destroyed, the First Order beat a retreat back to the city, hounded relentlessly by the Covenant forces.

Plasma mortars and the Scarab's main gun tore through the wall, allowing the alien invaders to avoid the relative chokepoint of the gate. Banshees blitzed past, flying low to avoid the AA fire and launching aerial attacks on random buildings throughout the city.

All the while, the Covenant march continued, as more and more forces were deployed outside and inside the city. First Order airspeeders dueled with the Banshees, neither side being able to do much to the other while also avoiding the AA fire which was as potentially dangerous to the First Order as it was to the Covenant.

In response to the anti-air, Spec Ops Elites led by Halmat moved to silence them and give the Covenant air superiority. The Sangheili broke through the defenses and gunned down the defenders, slaughtering their way through the emplacements and opening up access for the rest of the army.

On and on the battle raged, the horrors of urban warfare now affecting the Cyclonians and the civilians caught in the crossfire. And still, the extraterrestrial forces showed each other no quarter and no mercy, determined to bring each other to their knees.

The Scarab strode through the urban jungle, occasionally demolishing buildings with its focus cannon or just walking right through them. Wraiths demolished buildings while Ghosts and Choppers scouted the areas for infantry and ran down any stray soldiers or civilians in sight.

The First Order met them every step of the way however. Blasterfire and the occasional rocket lanced out from multiple buildings, determined to make the invaders suffer for every inch they took.

Hovertanks launched hit and fade assaults on Covenant vehicles, while scout walkers moved through the crowded streets gunning down Grunts, Jackals and the occasional Elite or Brute with its chin mounted cannons. One of the AT-KT's had the misfortune to run into a pair of Hunters, which left the walker a flaming pile of debris.

Despite the brutality of the fighting, the Covenant forces as a whole were ecstatic about this. They could finally hit the First Order where they lived on Atmos, and wipe them from the multiverse. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Far away from the battle, Master Cyclonis sat in her throne room, pondering the latest unfortunate events. The Covenant had made it into the Far Side, using the pathway that I.J. Domiwick had used to get here in the first place. As much as Cyclonis wanted to blame him, she knew it was ultimately her own fault.

She had neglected to warn the First Order of the path, the thought that the aliens would blast it open once more hadn't even crossed her mind. Now though, they had done just that, and worse still, they had taken control of several portal devices, and were using them to bring reinforcements into the Far Side.

The First Order was redeploying their forces to beat back the invasion, but yet another setback had arisen, as one of the gateway facilities had been recieving some of the creatures, and were set loose by the Covenant attack.

However, in spite of all this chaos, there was an interesting new development that had Cyclonis' attention. Some miners in the Northern regions had found ruins and artifacts that seemed to point a direction to the Lost Temple of the Ancient Ones.

She had heard of the Ancient Ones through the legends of the Far Side: Supposedly, long ago in Atmos' history, there was a race who had perfected crystal technology far beyond anything ever imagined. Even the greatest achievements in the Far Side supposedly paled in comparison to the Ancient Ones.

The stories had long been dismissed as myths and legends, but lately, ruins and artifacts had been discovered that seemed to hint that there was truth to the myths, and all their accomplishments could be found in a hidden temple.

Cyclonis, whose faith in the stories of the Far Side had been well rewarded, was more than willing to trust the stories now, especially with the Covenant pushing through her borders. Of course, there was the matter of who to send: The First Order's forces were needed to repel the assault, and none of her Cyclonians were intelligent enough to pull this off.

Still, there was one person she could call on: She hated having to use his help, pompous and arrogant though he was, but fortunately, he was unlikely to attempt to betray her, and had the expertise to get the job done. And even more fortunately, he was outside the city, avoiding the worst of the fighting. With a quick flick of her wrist, she activated the communication device.

* * *

The city was on fire, chaos reigned through the streets as the Covenant and First Order were tearing each other apart, with plasma blasts and explosions flying through the air. The civilians and Cyclonians were caught in the crossfire as the bitter rivals clashed, dying in gruesome and vicious ways.

This was of little concern to I.J. Domiwick, who had already fled from the outskirts of the city. He had a more important mission, a discovery that would change the Atmos and the Far Side forever.

Having escaped his prison cell during the First Order's intial rampage through the Far Side, the explorer had been granted relatively free reign thanks to the Imperial PMC's client, which led to his current situation.

Master Cyclonis had once again contacted him, desiring his help to find the temple of the Ancient Ones. Domiwick had heard the stories of course: Ever since he arrived on the Far Side, he had heard about the civilization whose grasp of crystal power dwarfed even the greatest minds of the Far Side. Supposedly, these Ancient beings had guided others onto their current technological path.

If Domiwick found the temple where they were based in, he would make history. The technology inside could alter the very course of Atmos' history, and make the Covenant and the First Order irrelavent.

Having gathered up what resources he needed, Domiwick took his skimmer and rode it away from the battle, already seeing fame and glory in his mind as he flew away into the horizon.


	9. Into the Dark

Far away from the battle, another portal to the Far Side opened up. This one wasn't generated by any of the native facilities, but rather by the Condor, which immediately exited the portal.

The Far Side door generator had been one of the many things that had been added to the Condor when the Storm Hawks chose to get the ship upgraded with Far Side technology. It hadn't been easy to acquire, but the arrival of the First Order had drastically accelerated that timetable, especially when they needed to get back to Atmos proper. And now they needed it more than ever.

The Storm Hawks stood on the bridge of the airship, horrified at the chaos around them. Covenant and First Order aircraft flitted through the skies, blaster bolts and plasma fire lighting up the night sky.

Further away, columns of smoke marked where the fighting had spread into the city, and as they watched, one of the largest buildings collapsed, killing god knows how many people in one fell swoop.

"We're doomed." Stork's response was predictable and unwelcome, but it helped snap everyone out of their shock.

"Stork, take us around the fighting." Aerrow ordered. "We don't want to get caught in the middle of it. Junko, get on the radio. See if you can raise anyone on our side. Finn, get on the gun; if something tries to hit us, we need to be ready for it. Piper, I need you to find us somewhere we can evacuate any survivors."

As the Storm Hawks set about their assigned tasks, Aerrow couldn't help but miss the fact that they were alone right now: Hunter and MK had stayed behind with the _Rogue Shadow_, to keep an eye on Laccabeus' movements. Considering how brutal this conflict was going to get, it would've been nice to have them here now.

"Aerrow, I may have something."

"What is it, Piper?" The Sky Knight walked up beside her as she poured over one of her maps.

"Well, the Covenant have captured some of the Far Side portal generators," She pointed them out. "and the First Order are holding onto the remaining ones." She gestured to the others, then pointed to one in particular. "But this one has gone completely silent. Any First Order or Covenant forces there aren't responding."

"Shouldn't we be concerned about that?" Junko asked. "It's really weird that the First Order would leave one of those places unattended."

"Maybe they all went on holiday?" Finn suggested half-heartedly, not really buying his own story. Neither did anyone else for that matter, if the eyerolling was any indication.

"Well, we need to check it out." The crystal mage said. "The people here won't last very long in a full-scale conflict like this. If we can get that generator working, we can start evacuating people."

"Agreed." He looked towards the Merbian at the helm. "Stork, take us there."

"Yeah, sure." Stork muttered, setting the course. "It's not like the portal could be overrun with carnivorous aliens or lethal killing machines."

* * *

In no time at all, the Storm Hawks had arrived at the portal generator, and true to Piper's prediction, no one was here. There had been signs of a battle of course: craters, carbon scoring, melted metal, and multiple dead bodies indicated a fierce struggle, but now the whole structure was as silent as a tomb.

The Condor landed on one of the remaining pads, and the ramp lowered, allowing Aerrow, Piper, Radarr, Finn, Junko and Stork to disembark. The former two scanned the area carefully, while the rest looked around nervously, expecting someone to start shooting at them. But there was nothing moving at all.

"Ok, this place is giving me the creeps." Finn murmured.

"Where is everyone?" Junko asked. He didn't get an answer.

"Stork, stay on the Condor." Aerrow said. "And keep it running. We may need a quick exit." The Merbian was only too happy to comply, rushing back up the ramp and closing it.

Sans Stork, the Storm Hawks entered the building proper. As the door opened, they were unsurprised to find a bloodbath had occured, but what was surprising was the lack of bodies. Shaking off their apprehension, the Storm Hawks made their way deeper into the fortress. Unnoticed to any of them, something jet black leapt onto the underside of the Condor.

...

Soon, the Storm Hawks were in the control room, which was clearly the site of a massacre. Blood was splattered everwhere, coating the walls and floor with it. This time, there were bodies left behind, the stench of which caused them all to gag.

Two things stood out here: Most of the bodies belonged to the First Order and Cyclonian troops, with not a single Covenant casuality present in this room, but also the fact that most of the deaths were caused by what seemed like claw and bite marks.

"What could've done this?" Piper asked.

Once again, none of them had an answer. While everyone looked over the room, Junko walked over to the controls, giving it a quick diagnostic. The controls were fairly intact, but the power to it was sporadic. He started fiddling with the wires, which Aerrow noticed.

"How's it looking, Junko?" The Sky Knight asked. "Can we use the portal to evacuate everyone?"

"It might be possible, but not like this." The Wallop mechanic responded. "We'll need to get the power restored if we want this to be viable."

"And let me guess, we need to go to the basement or something to turn the power back on?" Finn said. "This is just like every horror movie. We go to the basement and then they grab us." A wrench fell off a desktop and Finn jumped and screamed, before he saw what it was. He laughed sheepishly.

"Finn, keep it down!" Piper said. "There might still be someone here."

Suddenly, a low hissing made itself known from down the hallway they had just came from. Finn pointed his crossbow at the entrance, while Aerrow did the same with his blades, and Piper with her staff. Junko activated his knuckle busters in response to whatever would come out, but nothing did. The whole hallway was utterly silent, but Radarr let out a little whimper.

"Let's keep moving." Aerrow whispered. "Junko, how far are we from the power relays?"

"Not far." The Wallop said. "We just have to cut through the cargo bays and go down a level."

"Let's do this."

...

Soon, they reached the cargo bays, which just added to the mystery of what happened. Inside one of the cargo areas was a gathering of several crates and cages, all of which had lost power, clearly when the Covenant had attacked. Just like the rest of the station, the cargo bay was completely devoid of bodies.

Junko poked his head into one of the cages, and noticed several claw marks that indicated something had been trapped in here. The force field doors and mag locks on the crates had been shut down when the power was lost, giving whatever was inside a chance to escape.

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Piper called out. She held up a datapad, one that had been lying on a desk. "According to these records, the First Order brought something here, some sort of animals. They were going to send them through the portal to Atmos proper."

"Well that explains the bodies we found." Aerrow said. "What kind of creatures are they?"

"It doesn't say." Piper tapped the controls, frustration showing. "But given what we've seen, the First Order was afraid of these things."

"Then they probably should have put actual doors on these cells." Finn pointed out.

"But where are these creatures?" Junko interjected. "Why haven't we seen them?" His question didn't help anyone's nerves.

"We're not going to find out anything here." The Sky Knight said after a moment. "Let's get the power running and get out of here."

...

The Storm Hawks moved deeper into the facility, still unnerved by the lack of any noise that would indicate conflict. Because of this, it was a strange form of relief to find more bodies. This time, the corpses belonged to the Covenant, as the eviscerated bodies of the various species littered the ground.

In one area, they found the chitinous bodies of Drones in pieces all over the ground. Whatever had done this had apparently ambushed the Yanme'e inside some of the pipes, mercilessly killing them. Eventually, they reached a corner where Junko stated they needed to go, but all the lights in the area weren't on, leaving the hallway ahead in darkness.

Aerrow's blades lit up the hallway, and to their shock, what should have been a hallway of metal was now a tunnel of black flesh. It looked like the interior of someone's intestines, and the heat was stifling. The light fixtures were either covered by the black flesh, or had been destroyed by something.

"Stay together." Aerrow ordered as everyone drew their own weapons. "We don't want to get lost down here." Everyone else gave a fearful nod, which mirrored Aerrow's own feelings about this.

Gingerly, the Storm Hawks walked through the dark tunnel, which was as silent as a grave. Already unnerved, it didn't help the squadron's nerves when the ambient background noises occasionally broke the silence. The clang of metal on metal, strange hissing, flickering lights; all of this wasn't helping the atmosphere.

"Um, where is everyone?" Junko asked after a while.

"Maybe they went to get coffee?" Finn suggested half-heartedly. Aerrow turned to look at him when Piper suddenly gasped.

"Or maybe they're all here." Piper whispered.

Turning his blades to where his navigator was looking, Aerrow couldn't help the feeling of revulsion at what he saw. Attached to the walls were several bodies: Night Crawlers, Talons, First Order troopers, and even a few Kig-Yar, all dead with their expressions frozen in various states of agony.

The only thing that linked them together was the likely cause of death; each corpse had a hole in the middle of their chest the size of a dinner plate. What was even more disturbing was the fact that it looked like something had torn its way out of each body.

Radarr whimpered as he clutched Aerrow's shoulder, hating every step taken into the hallways. This whole place felt wrong in a way that Aerrow's copilot couldn't describe (not that the others would've understood anyway).

Finn's leg brushed against something and he looked down, nearly screaming as he did so. On the ground was a strange creature; it was somewhat bleached in color, with a very pale skin. It had eight legs, which were curled up against its bodies and an odd tail at the other end.

Panicking, he was about to shoot it with his crossbow when Piper put her hand on it. "Finn, it's already dead." She whispered fiercely.

"Yeah, I-I knew that." He stuttered, causing Piper to roll her eyes. Aerrow meanwhile, had barely paid attention to Finn's plight, still studying the bodies.

"What could've done this?" Aerrow asked, not expecting an answer.

"Ok, this place is getting seriously creepy." Finn said. "I think it's time we head back."

"I'm with Finn." Piper said. "This whole place feels wrong."

Aerrow was about to agree when they heard a low moaning just ahead. Rushing around a corner, Aerrow saw one of the bodies lift its head. It was a Night Crawler, it's purple eyes opening with an expression of pain on its face.

"We got a live one!"

"Kill... me..."

The Storm Hawks pulled away in surprise. The Night Crawlers were fantastically loyal to Cyclonis and were bloodthirsty to boot. To hear one beg for death was rather disturbing. What happened next was even more disturbing.

* * *

Stork listened to the static sounds of his friends on the radio, feeling more nervous with every passing second. He knew that this had been a bad idea, but of course, no one had listened to him.

Still, he didn't intend for the Storm Hawks to die on his watch, if for no other reason than to say 'I told you so.' His musings were interrupted by the sound of something falling somewhere in the ship. He turned to look behind him, eye twitching, but there was nothing there.

Then the lights went out. Stork screamed as it happened, rushing to a nearby crate and pulling out a flare, bathing the bridge in green light. Nervously, he looked around the room, but still there was nothing there.

After a moment of tense looking he laughed nervously and turned back to the controls. "Take it easy, Stork." He murmured. "It was probably just a power failure." He paused and looked up. "Or it could be something much worse."

Shaking out of that terrifying train of thought, he turned back to the controls to assess the problem. To his relief, he found that it was a simple problem with the lights. The rest of the Condor's power was working fine.

Still, that meant going down into the dark to fix it, where all sorts of terrors could hide. Quickly donning his armor (and bringing along his Brain Slug repellent), he cautiously set off into the bowels of his ship, feeling both terrified and comforted by the noises of the ship.

That comfort turned mostly to terror when he heard a low hissing coming from around him. Spinning around frantically, he spotted nothing, but still shivered nonetheless. He knew all the little workings of his ship; all the noises it could make and what they meant. That hissing hadn't been one of them.

Doubling his pace, he immediately ran towards the lighting panel, hoping to at least fix that problem and see better. Passing by his Black Gorge crate, he grabbed a pair of light-enhancing goggles and donned them, all while his mind was overloaded with thoughts about what could be onboard.

Bog Howlers, Hogsquatches, Vulca Bats, Gorge Slothes, Far Side dragons, all sorts of the large carnivorous insects and creatures within the Far Side. The list went on and on and none of the situations were pleasant.

Soon, he reached the panel, and just as he began working, he felt a presence behind him. Drool at his feet only confirmed his worst fear, and he turned around slowly, trembling all the while. Then he got a good look at what was behind him.

"Meep."

The creature was so much worse than he could've imagined. It had a jet black exoskeleton, standing roughly eight feet tall, and looked like it was basically covered in sharp edges. Strange dorsal tubing was on its back, and a long segmented tail was behind it, ending in a sharp blade. Its head was elongated, showing its eyeless face and its lips peeling away, displaying a mouth with razer sharp teeth.

Stork did the only thing he could think of: He screamed.

* * *

Far away from the raging battle, Cyclonis and the members of the First Order looked over the events from a holotable on the _Finalizer_. It allowed them to view recent events in safety, which was good, because things had gone seriously wrong for this alliance.

"Well, this is a problem." Hux muttered.

That was an understatement. In a very short amount of time, the Covenant had made considerable gains into the Far Side, aided by the element of surprise. The strike had been rapid and the First Order and Cyclonian response disorganized, partially due to the fact that no one had any warning of the Covenant arrival, giving Laccabeus the element of surprise.

They had somehow gained access to one of the Far Side's portal generators, and brought in reinforcements to secure more of them. Battles were still being fought over the network, with the allied Imperials and Cyclonians thankfully holding onto some.

Of course, the Covenant had managed to capture several of the transport stations, bringing a small army to lay siege to the nearby city. A Scarab had somehow been transported over as well, causing the tide of the battle to quickly turn against the Imperials.

Fortunately, the crystal-enhanced turbolaser cannons were still operational and away from the fighting, which meant the First Order wouldn't have to worry about the _Intention's Eye_ quite yet. But they needed to deal with this army, or that too would change.

"How did the Covenant even get here in the first place?" Snoke growled.

"The tunnels of Aquanos." Cyclonis explained. "It was how Domiwick got here in the first place. The Covenant must've blasted them open."

"Unfortunate." Hux said. "What about the specimens?" It was Phasma who answered.

"Sir, we lost contact with the station when the Covenant attacked." Phasma reported. "It's possible that the specimens have escaped."

"Goddamnit." Snoke cursed. Then a small grin slipped onto his face. "At the very least, they'll have made it very difficult for the Covenant as well."

"There's more, sir." Phasma interjected. "We've also spotted the Condor heading to that station."

"Just the Condor?" Snoke asked. When Phasma confirmed it, the General smiled. "Well, we may not have to worry about the Storm Hawks any longer."

Cyclonis felt herself smirking. "Indeed. If what you said is true, then our Storm Hawks problem will take care of itself."


	10. Squadron Logs: Part 4

Squadron Log

_Cyclonis is making her move. After weeks of conquest, she's heading back to Atmos to finish what she started. She's already gathered an army of Night Crawlers, while the First Order is preparing their own ground forces and capital ships. According to Hunter, their Star Destroyer is liable to bombard the Terras from orbit. They volunteered to go up and sabotage the ship so that doesn't happen._

_The sooner that happens the better; we've already seen the results of orbital bombardment here. Several towns are now smoking ruins thanks to an attack no one on the planet can see coming._

...

Cyclonis smirked as she looked over the holomap, feeling satisfaction with the power she had at her command. Several villages and towns had attempted to resist her rule since it started, and the First Order forces had to work overtime to keep the peace.

Now, those little disturbances were nothing more than shattered ruins and what few survivors there were traumatized by what they had experienced. This was the same type of power the Exopod would've given her, only multiplied.

When the _Finalizer_ started its bombardment, most of the Far Side holdouts had immediately surrendered. They recognized the folly of attempting to fight against a force that had the complete high ground from orbit.

With the Far Side cowed, Cyclonis could now return to Atmos proper and finish what she started. Atmosia's leadership would be begging to surrender to her, and any Terra that attempted to resist would be utterly crushed. With the First Order by her side, not even the Storm Hawks could stop her.

Now, she stood in the large hanger bay, on a catwalk at the back of the room. Once more, she couldn't help but marvel at all the power and help the First Order had given to her, many of which were down below.

Alongside the black armored Stormtroopers and Dark Troopers were an army of Nightcrawlers, just waiting to be used in the attack. They operated separately, the two groups of allies still somewhat wary of the other.

That feeling did not quite extend to the two women watching events from their vantage point. Despite her allegiance with the First Order, Vestara Khai had struck a bit of a rapport with Cyclonis, reminding the Master of her brief friendship with Piper.

"Your fight against the Storm Hawks was impressive." Cyclonis was saying. "Far better than any of my previous commanders."

"You're too kind, Master Cyclonis." The Sith said. "I only wish I could've finished off Hunter and MK."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of one of Cyclonis' Night Crawler captains.

"Master, Mistress Khai," The Night Crawler greeted. "We are prepared to assault the other side of the Atmos."

"Good." Cyclonis replied, before turning to Vestara. "I trust you're prepared to lead the assault?"

"Don't worry about me." Vestara said dismissively. "This isn't my first time leading soldiers."

"And what of Hux and Snoke? Will they keep to the plan?"

"They will. I can guarantee it."

"Excellent." Cyclonis looked over the hanger below. "Let us begin."

Hundreds of engines began roaring to life as Skimmers and First Order dropships warmed up and began taking off into the skies, heading for the portal stations. High in orbit, the _Finalizer_ was watching through its sensors, timing the attacks together.

Today would be the end of Atmos.

* * *

_As for the rest of us? Finn's gathering up more reinforcements while Junko's working on improving our rides. As for Aerrow and I, we've found a way to create a portal back to Atmos, and with Stork's help, we can get it set up to the Condor. If this works, we should be able to jump between the two sides of Atmos at will. One way or another, one thing's for certain:_

_The Storm Hawks are going home._

...

It took a bit of time for them to set it up, but once it was done, the Condor could open a rift under its own power. Without wasting any time, once Finn returned from his mission, the Storm Hawks took their airship back through the doorway, just a few miles away from Terra Atmosia.

"Home sweet home." Junko smiled wistfully.

"Stay focused guys." Piper reminded them. "This isn't a social visit."

"Piper's right." Aerrow said. "We've gotta warn Atmosia about Cyclonis' new attack."

There was a large crowd of cheering people on the ground, and the Storm Hawks recognized a few familiar faces among them, not least of all Starling and Dove. The Sky Knights of the Interceptors and Rebel Ducks respectively, pushed past the crowd to greet them.

"It's so good to see you." Starling said.

"Likewise." Aerrow replied. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Why? What is the problem?" Dove asked.

"It's a really, really long story." Finn said.

...

After getting through the crowd and making their way to the Sky Knight elders, the Storm Hawks began to explain about Cyclonis' newest plan to attack Atmos. They mentioned the First Order's otherworldly origins (though they left out the extradimensional part for the moment) and their alliance with Cyclonis. When they got to the end, no one said anything for a long moment. Then Starling spoke up.

"You know, if I had heard this from anyone else, I would've thought they were completely insane." She said. "But considering everything that's happened, I'm willing to believe it."

"Believe me, this was hard to accept for us as well." Piper said. "But right now, we need to focus on the bigger issue.

"We have to make sure Cyclonis can't get a foothold back here again." Aerrow said. "We need everyone we can get to fight their forces."

"What about that ship in orbit?" One of the Elders questioned. "We have no way to fight it."

"We've got friends who can help us with that." Aerrow explained. "They said they'll have it under control."

That was when the bombardment started. A small uninhabited terra sat just South of Atmosia proper. A swarm of green laser bolts peppered the rocky landscape, reducing it to glass. This was only the latest in their demonstration.

In just a few moments, the bombardment had halted, allowing Atmosia to get a good look at the destruction. There was nothing left of the Terra, having been reduced completely by turbolaser strikes. As several bystanders stared in horror, the clouds crackled with lightning and became red, as the large holographic form of Master Cyclonis appeared throughout the Atmos.

"People of Atmos." The holographic visage called. "These attacks mark the beginning of a new age for this world. The First Order will follow my commands, and reduce your Terras and cities to dust if I desire. Submit now, and your lives will be spared, which is more than you deserve after resisting me. You have one hour."

"We better hope your friends get their task done soon." Starling said, glancing at Aerrow. "Or there won't be an Atmos to save."

* * *

Onboard the _Finalizer_, Hux and Snoke looked over the holotable with stoic expressions, though inwardly, they were rather pleased. The Cyclonian-First Order forces were advancing through the Atmos seemingly unhindered, the bombardment having convinced the inhabitants of the futility in trying to defeat them.

The first target was a nameless Terra, just south of Blizzaris. The First Order had learned the lessons of Tarkin, and Hux chose to use abandoned regions as an example in order to force the people of Atmos to capitulate. If they didn't then they would switch to populated targets.

So far, they were feeling confident, but not too confident. With Hunter and MK still in play, this victory could be short. So, Phasma and Vestara were keeping an eye open on the ground, while the _Finalizer_ kept scanning from space.

Unknown to the crew of the Star Destroyer, a cloaked vessel had managed to attach itself to one of the starboard airlocks. The door collapsed as Hunter blasted it open, who quickly followed the useless metal and made his way into the hallway.

"I'm in." He said. "Keep the ship and its fighters distracted. Hopefully, by the time they know I'm here, it'll be too late."

The First Order didn't have a large complement of fighters, but like most of their equipment, they made up for it simply due to the fact that they weren't using standard equipment. The ship had squadrons of TIE Hunters, shielded TIE Interceptors, and even a half squadron of TIE Phantoms.

"Copy that." MK piloted the _Shadow_ away. "And hurry. It won't take long before they launch another bombardment."

Hunter nodded and made his way down the passage. With his cloak activated, he was effectively invisible, moving with nary a whisper and sending out a low electric pulse to scramble cameras just enough that they couldn't detect him. He didn't expect the disruption to go unnoticed forever, but hopefully, they would be too occupied in a few minutes.

...

Outside, a dozen TIE Hunters and a pair of TIE Phantoms were providing escort for the _Finalizer_, and were prepared to launch airstrikes against the Atmosians below if necessary. At the moment though, things were quiet, which wouldn't last very long.

Laser bolts lanced out from nowhere, striking two of the TIE Hunters and shooting them down. A black and somewhat boxy ship decloaked and blasted through space, drawing the attention of the remaining fighters and the Star Destroyer.

"Captain! The _Rogue Shadow_ has been spotted off the starboard bow!"

The _Rogue Shadow_ blew through the First Order fighters, laser cannons blaring and gunning down the TIEs. The TIE Phantoms were providing some actual challenge, but the _Shadow's_ sensors were more than capable of taking them on. The _Finalizer_ attempted to gun the stealth vessel down, but it was unable to land a solid hit, and the _Shadow_ retaliated by firing on the bridge tower.

"Launch more TIEs and divert power to shields!" Hux ordered, before turning to Snoke. "This doesn't make any sense. Why reveal themselves now?"

"Because the _Shadow_ is a distraction." Snoke replied. "One of them is already onboard."

"I'll alert internal security of the breach."

"You do that." Snoke turned on his heel and left the bridge. "I'll see to their failure personally."

...

On board the _Finalizer_, Hunter was wreaking havoc, shutting down systems using his power, while Jarvis infiltrated what systems he could. It wasn't as quick and easy as they were expecting, however. When the First Order realized that the superhuman had boarded, they began shutting down and isolating electrical systems when they could, slowing him down. As for Jarvis, they had cut off servers and isolated them, leaving the Republic AI limited in what he could access. Given that Jarvis was also largely responsible for piloting the _Rogue Shadow_, which was currently engaged in a dogfight with the First Order's TIEs, the AI wasn't working at full capacity.

Still, Hunter was confident about his chances of bringing down the Star Destroyer, right up to the point where a half-dozen seeker missiles came around a corner from another hallway.

"Oh, shit!"

Leaping back, Hunter activated a drop shield, which protected him from most of the blasts, but the final one broke through the shield and sent him flying with his own personal shields drained. Quickly rising to his feet, Hunter saw what was waiting for him.

Phase I and Phase Zero Dark Troopers stood there, the latter of which were armed with blast cannons to keep him from getting a power boost. But it was the large figure in the center that caught the attention; it was a large bipedal being, easily towering over the other robots.

It was much more heavily armed as well, with missile launchers in its shoulders, blaster cannons built into its wrists and a large assault cannon being held in one hand. Hunter's spine shivered at the sight of the Phase III dark trooper.

These were some of the deadliest war droids ever built, just below everything the Republic and Separatists had in regards to robotic soldiers. There was only one person in the First Order who could afford and would use such a droid, and it was almost certain that he was inside it right now.

"Oh hey Snoke."

For the droid's part, a single voice emerged from the speaker, confirming Hunter's suspicions. "Did you really think we would be unaware of your infiltration?" The First Order general taunted.

"Well, I was kinda hoping so." Hunter shrugged. "And I was hoping that antique of yours would still be out of commission."

"Unfortunately for you, the damage you inflicted wasn't enough." The Dark Trooper raised its assault cannon and aimed it at him. "Now, I would just surrender if I were you."

"Hm." Hunter put his finger to the chin of his Rogue helmet, as if considering it. "Tempting, but I have a better idea."

Seconds later, he unleashed a storm of electricity that would've fried any First Order trooper within the hallway. Unfortunately, the more robust systems of the Dark Troopers allowed them to survive with merely a momentary halt, though the Phase Zeroes took a moment to recover (the only reason they hadn't been killed was because Hunter's power was dispersed throughout the hallway).

The Republic agent hadn't expected his attempt to work, though. Rather, it was meant to delay them while he tried to find another way to the reactor. He had to hurry. Given enough time, Hunter might have been able to take down Snoke and his entourage. Unfortunately, time was not something Atmos had, and if he didn't stop the _Finalizer_ now, every resisting city and Terra on Atmos would be reduced to molten slag.

"Come back here you little Kriff!" Snoke's voice roared from behind him.

Of course, he still had to get past Snoke's forces. The Republic agent sprinted through the bowels of the ship, frying any security forces he came into contact with while avoiding Snoke's personal guards behind him.

"Jarvis, I need a new plan and stat!" Hunter sent a bolt of lightning behind him as he ran, this one having enough power to fry the Phase Zero Dark Trooper behind him. "Where's the targeting array?"

A waypoint appeared on his HUD, which the Republic agent immediately followed, sending bursts of lightning behind him and ahead as the First Order attempted to keep him tied down. Jarvis aided in his efforts by shutting the blast doors as they moved through them, but this was only a temporary delay for Snoke's Dark Trooper suit.

Soon, the Republic agent had reached the targeting array, allowing Jarvis to upload a virus into the computer. It was just in time; the Destroyer was just about to switch to populated locations, but now, they would miss entirely. Hunter spun around at the sound of approaching soldiers, just as the _Finalizer_ opened fire.

...

The green laser bolts streaked through the atmosphere... and missed Atmosia entirely, instead flying harmlessly into the Wastelands. The Sky Knights looked around in confusion, but Aerrow and Piper breathed a sigh of relief. The red-haired Sky Knight pulled out the comlink that the Republic agents had given to him and set it to the correct frequency.

"Hunter, can you hear me?"

"I'm a little busy at the moment, Aerrow!" The sound of energy blasts could be heard over the link, along with the crackle of electrical arcs.

"Your plan worked." Aerrow said. "The bombardment is just missing." Suddenly a beam of energy struck Atmosia itself, shattering a small dock for civilian ships.

"Or not!" Piper yelled as the dust settled.

...

From his position on the Destroyer, Hunter could see that the turbolasers were starting to get more accurate. The panicked shouts from Aerrow's line on the ground was pretty compelling proof of that.

"Jarvis?! What's happening?"

"The First Order is working to counteract the virus." The AI explained. "This was only a temporary solution."

"Damnit." The electrokinetic cursed. "MK, can you take out the targeting array?"

"No can do." The cryokinetic responded, sending the _Shadow_ into a diving roll. "I've got TIE Hunters and Phantoms on my six and a fully shielded _Finalizer_ ahead of me. I'm having enough problems avoiding them, even with Jarvis' help."

"Need I remind you that I do have limits." The AI snarked. "I'm not exactly a top of the line Republic AI, and it's hard to coordinate a space battle while simultaneously hacking a Star Destroyer."

"Alright, I'll have to figure something out." A missile shot around the corner, causing Hunter to leap back. "Hopefully soon."

* * *

On the surface of Atmos, the Sky Knights had rallied behind the Storm Hawks once again, ready to fight off the latest threat to their freedom. Now, hundreds of skimmers and airships had gathered in the sky, facing off against a fleet of Cyclonian Destroyers and skimmers, dozens of Night Crawlers, and multiple First Order airspeeders and drop ships.

Aerrow and the rest of the Storm Hawks led the charge, opening fire as soon as they were in range. The Cyclonian-First Order alliance retaliated in kind, and soon the sky was filled with bursts of light and explosions.

Surprisingly, the sheer number of free Atmosian airships meant that they were doing fairly well against the Cyclonians, who had lost a fair bit of their manpower over the last year. But the First Order was still another story, as their dropships and airspeeders could easily outmaneuver many Atmosian airships and retained the firepower to shoot them down.

It didn't help matters when a turbolaser bolt lanced from orbit and struck a makeshift battle ship, instantly reducing it to boiling scrap metal. Several other ships suffered the same fate, one laser narrowly missing the Condor in the process.

Seeing this from his skimmer, Aerrow immediately activated his radio, calling up the Republic agents. "Guys, what's going on?" He shouted. "I thought you were going to take care of the orbital problem."

"We're working on it, Aerrow!" MK said. "I've only got to deal with several squadrons of TIEs by myself."

"And I'm being hunted by the entire ship's security." Hunter finished, then paused for a second.

"Also I think Snoke's mad at me." There was a loud explosion in the background followed by Snoke's shouted curses before Hunter spoke again. "Yep, he's definitely mad at me."

At that moment, his conversation was interrupted by Radarr's screeching, and Aerrow turned to look at where he was pointing. His eyes widened at the sight of Vestara Khai, standing on the wing of a Cyclonian skimmer flying toward him with her lightsaber drawn, then narrowed in determination.

Nodding to Radarr, who nodded back, Aerrow leapt onto his own wing and drew his blades, while his copilot took over flying. Waiting until they were close, both combatants swung their blades at each other, red and blue clashing.

...

Back on the _Finalizer_, Hunter sprinted through the halls of the ship, barreling through anything in his path and frying any soldier he could while on the move. No Terror Trooper, Shadow Trooper or Dark Trooper could stop him, and soon he made his way to the reactor room.

Hunter ran into the reactor room, still being hounded by Snoke. By now, the Republic agent had worn down Snoke's personal guards during the running fight, leaving him alone with Snoke... and the armed technicians and Shadow Troopers in the reactor.

Blaster bolts flew all around him, a few striking his shields, while Hunter retaliated with pinpoint bolts of lightning, knocking several technicans off the catwalks they were standing on. The Shadow Troopers were a little smarter, taking potshots from the control pillars that gave them cover, but even they couldn't do much.

The Republic agent was moving too quickly to pin down, occasionally launching himself between the catwalks and giving himself a better angle to target the defenders. As he laid waste to the First Order troopers, he couldn't help but internally thank Imperial engineering for designing so little cover into their warships. Though after the last technician fell, he quickly realized that flaw went both ways.

The catwalk in front of him exploded, causing Hunter to stumble forward and nearly plummet down, barely managing to grab the edge in time. Looking back up onto the ledge, he found Snoke standing above him, one arm holding an assault cannon, the other with its laser cannons in its wrist out and on its shoulders were the seeker missile tubes.

All of which were pointed at him.

"Jarvis?!"

"Shutting down artificial gravity in the reactor."

Everything in the room began floating, including the Republic Agent and the First Order general. While the former activated the thrusters built into his armor, the latter flailed around for a second before activating his magnetic boots. But he was too slow to land back on the catwalk, and Hunter used the split second of confusion to hit the Dark Trooper with an electrically charged uppercut.

Snarling, Snoke began firing at Hunter, who twisted in mid-air to avoid the plasma and blaster bolts. Some of Snoke's missed shots struck one of the control panels, causing red lights to start flashing in tune with an alarm.

"Careful." Hunter said sarcastically. "I'd hate to see you bring your own ship down."

"You really think you can force me to bring this ship down?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Hunter shrugged. "It really doesn't matter." Without looking, he sent a bolt of lightning into another console. "I can do it myself."

The electrokinetic simultaneously fended of Snoke's attacks or avoided them, while frying every important machine he could see. Snoke was forced to limit the use of his arsenal for fear of causing catastrophic damage to the ship, something Hunter wasn't chained by. Alarms were blaring all over the place with the more damage taken.

Finally, the ship really began shaking, indicating that the battle had finally caused the power to fail. The shields had been disabled as well, and MK wasted no time in targeting the engines.

Shuddering, the _Finalizer_ descended, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. Inside the reactor, Hunter smirked behind his helmet and gave a cheerful wave to Snoke, who was still magnetized to the floor.

"Thanks for the help asshole!"

Roaring in fury, the General took aim once more, only for Hunter to strike first with a dual blast of electricity, staggering the Dark Trooper while the Republic agent simultaneously launched himself towards the nearest door, and quickly ran towards the nearest escape pod.

Launching himself from the ship, he simply watched as the ship began listing downwards until the _Rogue Shadow_ picked him up. Having managed to shake the TIEs in the confusion, MK cloaked the vessel and headed towards Atmos.

Back on the Destroyer's bridge, Hux and his crew were unable to keep the ship from crashing. They were however, able to give the _Finalizer_ a controlled crash landing. Aiming for an empty region in the Far Side, it was a very rough ride, not helped by the power fluctuations.

At that thought, Hux looked at one display, then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the power to the containment cells hadn't been cut. With the _Finalizer_ going down, the last thing they needed was for those things to get loose as well.

Their trajectory took the ship back into the Far Side, where they were finally able to get some of the repulsorlifts back and running. The _Finalizer_ had a rough landing, but it landed fairly intact, even in spite of the internal and external damage.

Back on the ground, the attack stalled as the First Order's comms were thrown into chaos from the Star Destroyer's fall. Vestara and Phasma were able to rally the troops and they fell back to regroup, the Cyclonians joining them.

The First Order's Star Destroyer may have been brought down, but most of their forces had survived, and were eager to fight. Combined with the remaining Cyclonians, and it was looking like a difficult battle for the future of Atmos.

...

_They've done it. Hunter and MK managed to bring down the Finalizer, which effectively rallied the rest of Atmos. Unfortunately, we're not done yet: the First Order is still present, along with the Cyclonians, and will strike again very soon._

_The only way Atmos can have peace once more is if Cyclonis is defeated and the First Order driven from our world. And that's exactly what we're going to do, one way or another._


	11. Darkness Revealed

The black humanoid started convulsing, struggling against its bonds and screaming in pain. Frozen, the Storm Hawks could only watch as a dark stain appeared on the Night Crawler's chest, before a strange... thing burst out, spraying blood everywhere.

The eyeless abomination screeched as it emerged from the Night Crawler, growling at all of them. Finn and Junko screamed, and Radarr shrieked, all of them landing on the Wallop at the sight.

Aerrow and Piper also backed away in shock, staring at the creature in horror. After a second, Aerrow regained his senses and swung an energy blast at the creature, which leapt away screeching before vanishing into the dark.

"Everyone alright?" He turned to Piper, who nodded shakily, then turned to the rest of the Storm Hawks.

"Wh-wh-what was that?" Junko shivered.

"At least it's gone now." Piper said. "We need to keep moving before more show up." Seconds later, the Crystal Mage realized she shouldn't have tempted fate.

Hissing and screeching arose from around them, as the Storm Hawks activated their weapons. Despite the cacophony, they still couldn't see anything coming after them. It was Radarr who spotted danger first, as the wall behind Finn started shifting. Churring out a warning, he pointed to the disturbance in question.

They were jet black, large bug like creatures. Their features varied slightly between them, but all had a black exoskeleton, a long serrated tail with a blade on the end, elongated heads with eyeless faces, and mouths containing a smaller inner mouth within.

Everyone activated their weapons, Piper and Aerrow glowing with energy as the monsters closed in, completely unafraid of the armed children in front of them. The nearest creature abruptly lunged forward, silver teeth flashing.

* * *

Far from the still ongoing battle between the First Order and the Covenant, the _Rogue Shadow_ decloaked, having little need to stay hidden in the current warzone, especially since both sides were currently more focused on killing one another. In the cockpit, the two Republic agents watched the conflict impassively.

The Covenant still held the initiative, their surprise, numbers, and continuing reinforcements allowing them superiority. In spite of that, the First Order and Cyclonians refused to go down quietly.

"Jarvis." The two of them turned away from the battle, turning their gaze to the AI's pedestal, where his hologram appeared. "Where are the Storm Hawks?"

"Please tell me they're not stuck in this mess." MK gestured to the war outside.

"Scans indicate that they are at one of the gateway watchtowers." The hologram shifted into an image of the structure in question. "I'm detecting the Condor's signature docked outside. Strangely, both sides seem to be ignoring them."

"You'd think there'd be more resistance." MK noted. "The Covenant and First Order are still fighting over the others, so why not this one?"

"Especially since the Storm Hawks are there." Her partner replied. "You'd think Cyclonis at least would want them destroyed."

"Sir, I'm detecting Xenomorph life signs in the facility." Jarvis interrupted. "And it appears one is onboard the Condor." Well that answered one question, but it just created several more.

"The hell?" Hunter growled. "What are those things doing here?"

"I would suspect that the First Order brought them." Jarvis replied. "As to how they captured them long enough for them to break free, I can only speculate."

"At this point it doesn't matter." MK replied. "We need to get the Hawks out, right now."

"Agreed. They have no idea as to what they're walking into." Hunter turned back to the viewport. "Jarvis, get us there right now."

The _Rogue Shadow_ reactivated its cloaking device and flew towards the station, reaching it within seconds. As soon as it began hovering overhead, the two Republic agents leapt out of the ramp, Hunter using his jets to land safely at the entrance to the station, while MK used her ice to divert herself to the Condor.

* * *

Inside the Condor, Stork was running for his life, his screams echoing through the airship. Miraculously, he had managed to avoid the creature's grasp, triggering all the traps he had installed on the Condor. However, the monster had been crafty, mostly managing to avoid the traps, and recovering rather quickly from the ones it did get caught in.

After a circuitous route, he was finally cornered in the hanger as he was searching for something that might help him. The only useful thing he found was a frying pan, which he swung hard at the creature's head as soon as it made its presence known. But this only pissed off the abomination and backhanded him into the wall, leaving him dazed and helpless.

Stork closed his eyes and waited for the end. The creature hissed, only to suddenly screech in shock before being abruptly cut off. A cold breeze wafted over him, and he opened his eyes to find the monster frozen in a block of ice.

"Stork," The helmsman turned to his savior, who was a fully armored MK. "Are you alright?"

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Stork ran forward and wrapped MK in a crushing hug. "I thought I was a goner there!"

After prying the helmsman away and assuring him, she asked where the rest of the Storm Hawks were. "They went down into the facility." Stork's teeth were nearly chattering. "I knew coming here was a bad idea."

"Can you turn the security system on?"

"Something went wrong with the power." Stork gestured to the frozen alien. "I was on my way to fix it when I ran into that."

"Well, there's no time to waste."

After heading back down and fixing the problem (MK going with him because the Merbian refused to go otherwise) Stork ran back up to the bridge and triggered the defenses, immediately electrifying the hull to keep any more of those creatures from getting onboard.

"Ok, good." MK gently clapped Stork's back, causing him to flinch from the contact. "Keep the Condor hovering above and away from the platform. That'll keep any more from getting on." She began walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"To get your friends out."

...

While MK was helping Stork, Hunter was already running through the darkened facility. The sounds of crystal bolts firing, angry screeching and panicked shouts echoed throughout the halls, getting louder as the Republic agent got closer.

Soon, he was at the site, and thankfully, none of the Storm Hawks had been seriously hurt. But they were surrounded, with Xenomorphs spawned of various species all around them. And even now, a Jiralhanae born warrior was coming up behind Junko.

A bolt of lightning fried the bug, simultaneously drawing everyone's attention to Hunter's presence. Piper used the momentary distraction of the xenomorphs to unleash an energy pulse that sent all the aliens flying back.

"Storm Hawks, regroup!" Aerrow shouted, firing a blast at one xenomorph getting back on their feet.

The Hawks made it to Hunter, who guided them out of makeshift hive. But the xenomorphs refused to back down, hounding the Storm Hawks all the way, ambushing them from vents and under floorboards, and they only narrowly escaped. They rounded a corner where it seemed their luck had run out.

"Oh man!" Finn whimpered.

The hall ahead was almost wall to wall with a dozen xenomorphs of all shapes and sizes. Some were born from Covenant species, the rest were obviously the spawn of humanoid creatures, but one thing was certain; all of them looked angry.

Fortunately, before they could attack, a wall of ice appeared in front of the horde. Ignoring the angry screeching and hissing, the gathering turned to see MK standing in a side passage, her hand on the wall. A trail of ice reaching out to the current wall, it was easy to hear the smirk in her voice.

"Looks like I got here just in time."

"Did you get to Stork?" Hunter asked, causing Aerrow and Piper to glance at each other with worry. Thankfully, MK's next words allayed their unspoken fears.

"Yeah, he's fine." The sound of ice cracking drew their attention to the wall, where the aliens were battering their way through. "And I think we should continue this conversation elsewhere."

...

On an on the small group ran through the facility, evading the xenomorphs where they could and fighting when they couldn't. It was long and difficult work, but as they got closer and closer to where they started, the aliens slowed to a trickle. Eventually, it stopped altogether.

When the action finally calmed down and they had made it back to the control room, they all took a moment to relax. Discarding their armor for a moment, the two Republic agents caught a whiff of a rather terrible scent. It was clear that Finn and Junko needed a change of pants. Piper was the first to catch her breath, and when she did, asked the question all the Storm Hawks were wondering:

"Ok, what were those things?!"

"Xenomorphs." Hunter's answer came as a snarl. "Some of the most dangerous creatures in the multiverse."

"Either that, or an extremely irritating pest." MK continued. "They breed like freaking cockroaches wherever they set up shop."

"How did they get here?" Finn asked, his eyes still darting around, expecting another attack at any moment.

"The First Order." Aerrow answered Finn's question. "That's what was on the manifest."

"They must've brought them here just before the Covenant attack." Piper added, before glancing in Hunter's direction when a slightly demented chuckle emerged from his lips.

"Just because the Separatists can control them, it means every jumped up warlord thinks the same thing now." Hunter muttered to himself. The rest of the Storm Hawks decided not to ask.

"So can we go now?" Junko asked.

"We can't." Aerrow shook his head. "We still need to get the generator back online."

"You want us to go back in there?!"

Finn looked terrified at the prospect, and honestly, so did everyone else. Even Aerrow was looking frightened at the idea, and really, the Republic agents couldn't blame. The very appearance of the bioweapons just hit the fear instincts in the mind of many organic lifeforms, humans especially. The two Republic agents quickly knew what to do.

"You guys stay here. We'll deal with this problem, you just be ready at the controls." MK gestured in its direction, before walking off, Hunter following. Their armor reappeared over their bodies.

"Where are you going?"

"We're going to get the generator back online and deal with the xenomorphs." Hunter sighed and held out an outstretched hand, which crackled with electricity. "Most likely doing so the hard way."

...

It took about an hour, but the two Republic agents were able to clear out the infestation, their powers thankfully causing minimal blood to spill and ruin this place any further. It helped that the fighting previously had removed most of them already. They walked past the charred and frozen aliens until they reached the power station.

Using his power, Hunter recharged the generator, feeding enough energy to bring it back online. The portal controls reactivated, giving the Storm Hawks the means to get non-combatants evacuated.

When the two Republic agents got back upstairs, the Storm Hawks were in the process of discussing things, having contacted Stork and their allies on the Far Side to do exactly that. However, it appeared that more bad news was on the way.

"What is it?"

"We've just received word that Cyclonians are looking for something dangerous." Aerrow explained. Piper pulled out a book to elaborate, one she had collected during their time in the Far Side.

"They're after the temple of the Ancient Ones." She explained. "Legend has it that these were the first species on Atmos, and provided the basis for all of the Far Side technology used today until they suddenly vanished." She flipped a page and looked back up. "No one knows what happened to them, but they apparently left their ruins behind. Rumor has it that anyone who controls their power and technology can control the entire Atmos!"

Hunter and MK looked at each other, similar suspicious expressions mirrored on their faces. That sounded way too familiar to them; an extremely powerful race with technology beyond later eras being a rather common theme in most of the multiverse. And they were specifically named the 'Ancient' Ones...

"If Cyclonis and the First Order gets their hands on it, we could be in serious trouble." Finn's statement brought the two agents out of their musings.

"If the legends are true." Piper countered, though she didn't sound convinced of her own words. "Still, Finn has a point; if Cyclonis is looking for these ruins, then we need to find them first."

"We can't do anything until we get everyone evacuated." Aerrow said.

"We need to get the word out." Hunter ordered. "Tell everyone in the Far Side how to get out of here."

"Agreed. Stork, Junko, get into contact with anyone you can." Aerrow said. "Tell them exactly where to go and make sure the Cyclonians don't know about it."

"We'll go make sure this place doesn't have any surprises waiting for us." Hunter said, as he and MK walked back into the facility. With everyone doing what Aerrow asked, that just left him and the crystal mage, who looked at him with concern written on her face.

"Aerrow, what about the Ancient Ones?" Piper asked, pulling him aside. "If they're even a fraction as powerful as the myths claim, then we can't do this on our own."

"You're right." Aerrow sighed, looking out the window at the smoke and flames still raging, along with many flashes of light. "We're gonna need some help."

...

Eventually, Stork and Junko had got the word out to their allies in the Far Side, who spread the word to the rest of the people here. Those who could fled from the battle, making a beeline for the portal with any and every ship they could muster.

As a steady stream of ships fled for the relative safety of the main Atmos, they were also joined by the Sky Knight squadrons who had answered Aerrow's call. Fortunately, the Covenant had started pulling out of Atmos proper, instead being redeployed to the Far Side, giving the Sky Knights the ability to do the same. Many of them would've been staring in awe, if not for the devastation around them.

Thanks to Finn, they all knew what they were up against, and they all knew what they had to do. The Sky Knights would make sure that as many as they could find would escape the warzone.

Once that was done (and once the Storm Hawks had located it), they would all launch an attack against the ruins, capturing it and hopefully taking out Cyclonis in the process. With their employer gone, the First Order would have no reason to stay, and if Hunter and MK were right, their departure would bring Laccabeus' forces with them.

It wasn't the most ideal plan; there were a whole lot of things that could go wrong, the list of which kept growing, but it was their best shot at finally bringing peace to the Atmos.

* * *

Far from the warzone, in a massive cavern, Domiwick couldn't help but stare in awe. Even for him, the greatest explorer who had first made it to the Far Side, this put everything he had ever discovered before to shame. Faded silver and gold colors were all over the place, and even the stone carvings of the bird-like creatures adorning the sides of the hall had a grace and elegance unseen anywhere on Atmos.

He had made the greatest discovery in Atmos' history. It had been a long tiring effort, but all by his lonesome, he had found it. The screeching tires of skimmers behind him drew Domiwick out of his musings and reminded him that he hadn't actually discovered it alone.

"Well hurry up!" He shouted. "Catalog everything. We're going to need it."

Grumbling, the Cyclonians did as they were told. They had been put under I.J. Domiwick's temporary command in order to help find this place, and finally it had paid off. Oh it hadn't been easy; just locating the ruins had been difficult even with Far Side technology, but they had eventually located it with the help of half-remembered legends.

Getting in had been even more difficult: burrowing into the cavern was easy, but getting through the ruins was not. All excavation equipment failed to even scratch the walls and doors, drill bits shattering and explosives leaving nothing but scorch marks.

Eventually, Domiwick had discovered that getting through was actually quite simple: all along the doors were ornate glyphs, and pressing one that looked like a small circle inside a larger circle allowed them to open the door, thus granting passage to where they were now.

The room was mostly stone, but seemed to have shades of faded gold amongst them. Interspersed on the walls were strange patches of what looked like fire, but within were the words of some strange language unknown to modern explorers. But what was most amazing was what was in the main chamber, as Domiwick and even the Night Crawlers and Talons stared in awe at the sight.

At the edge of the room was an ornate silver dais, hovering several feet of the ground all under its own power, even that simple act an astonishing feat of craftsmanship. To have such a device like that working for over a thousand years was completely unheard of.

"Master Cyclonis is on the line." One Talon said, walking over next to Domiwick, who couldn't take his eyes off the ruins. "What should I tell her?"

"Tell Master Cyclonis we've found it." Domiwick said. "We've found the ruins of the Ancient Ones."


	12. Squadron Logs: Part 5

Squadron Log

_Out of the frying pan and into the Wastelands. That's the only way I can describe Atmos now. Things actually got worse than they were already, which I didn't think was even possible. It was the battle to end all battles on Atmos, the final conflict that should've decided the fate of our world. Cyclonia and the First Order vs the free people of Atmos, and we were losing. Then the aliens arrived._

_It was a single massive ship, that arrived right in the middle of the battle. We knew something was horribly wrong when the First Order retreated at the mere sight of the vessel. And for good reason. After chasing the First Order back to the Far Side, the aliens turned on us._

_Hunter and MK called the ship the _Intention's Eye_. According to them, it's one of the last remnants of an alien empire known as the Covenant, and the commander of the ship has a particularly vengeful grudge against the First Order. Fortunately, it's only a single ship, which means we won't have to worry about more of these aliens coming to Atmos. Unfortunately, it seems that ship contains an army large enough to challenge all of Atmos, with technology even more advanced than the First Order's!_

_Atmos found this out the hard way when the carrier launched simultaneous raids against the largest and most important Terras on Atmos. It took Cyclonis nine days to conquer Atmos the first time, but it only took the Covenant one day to ravage the world. Because they don't care about conquering or enslaving us, they just want to see us suffer. Even the First Order isn't this cruel._

_Fortunately, the damage to most Terras can be rebuilt (though the losses are another matter) and the Covenant seem disinterested in pursuing full extermination against us or bombarding our Terras from orbit, like the First Order was going to do. Though it's not from a lack of ability, as we saw in the remains of Cyclonia..._

* * *

It had been a long day, that's for sure. The Storm Hawks had already had their hands full when they were fighting with the First Order. At first, it had seemed that everything would even out when Hunter sabotaged the _Finalizer_, but even with their orbital supremacy in jeopardy, the Imperial PMC still wasn't out of the fight. Supplemented by Cyclonians, it was a brutal battle.

It only got worse with the arrival of the Covenant. The First Order had retreated at the mere sight of their ship, and for good reason, as the Hawks had discovered when they got distress calls from almost every major Terra on Atmos... simultaneously.

Even the Storm Hawks, the defenders of Atmos, couldn't be everywhere at once. So they decided that they would be better served at tracking the source of these new invaders, against the advice of Hunter and MK, though the two superhumans had eventually relented.

With MK and the Rogue Shadow currently on the Far Side monitoring the First Order's movements, Hunter joined the Storm Hawks as they flew a recon mission into Cyclonian territory. Considering the massive carrier had been sighted there, followed by the clouds of black smoke that now hung over the remains of Cyclonia, it was a valid reason to check.

Currently, Aerrow, Piper, Finn and Junko were flying towards the heart of Cyclonia on their skimmers, while Stork was still in the Condor, hanging back away from the _Eye. _Hunter was there as well, riding his own skimmer which he had got from the Far Side. The Republic soldier had taken a liking to Atmos' main mode of transportation, and had acquired one at the earliest opportunity.

Now, the ride to Cyclonia was quiet, as the Storm Hawks felt as if they were walking into a graveyard. Eventually, someone inevitably felt the need to break the silence.

"So, you know this Laccabeus guy?" Junko asked.

"We have... a rather complicated history." The Republic agent simply said with a tone that indicated he didn't want to talk about it.

"Ok, well what is he doing here?" Aerrow asked, looking in the electrokinetic's direction, the Sky Knight's eyes narrowing. "I highly doubt he chose our world at random."

"If I had to guess, he's here for the First Order." Hunter sighed. "They have an old grudge against them."

"Is that all?" Piper asked, Aerrow's suspicions clearly bleeding into her as well.

"What, you think we brought him here?" Hunter snapped. "His forces may be more advanced than the First Order, but they still have nothing on Republic technology. Hell, if we believed that Laccabeus could follow us, we'd never have come here." His tone had an aura of finality, indicating he was done talking about it, so the Storm Hawks reluctantly kept quiet.

After what felt like forever, the Storm Hawks made to Cyclonia's fallen location, and could finally see what the Covenant had done to it. Now, Cyclonia had never been pretty to look at, but even this was too far.

"Oh my god." Aerrow murmured.

The firestorm had raged throughout Cyclonian territory, cooling into a black obsidian-like substance. There was nothing remaining of even the ground below, only a black scar that would stain Atmos forever.

While the Storm Hawks stared in shock at the sheer destruction caused by Laccabeus' glassing, Hunter wasn't surprised, having seen far worse than this. In advance, he had told them about the Human-Covenant war, and even shown pictures of glassed worlds to prepare them, but seeing it in person always added a new level of horror.

"Is this what it was like on UNSC worlds?" Piper asked, her eyes still on the black clouds around her.

"No." Hunter replied. "Most of the time it was far worse than this."

The massive bulk of the _Intention's Eye_ could be seen amongst the devastation, still surrounded by swarms of Banshees and Phantoms. As the Storm Hawks watched, the carrier turned away from Cyclonia's remains, the flare of its three engines could be seen even at this extreme distance. The Covenant aircraft followed their mothership, though a few remained behind to sweep the area.

"Stork, we need a pick up." Aerrow called, knowing that their skimmers couldn't out run the Banshees should they notice them.

Moments later, the Condor arrived and the Storm Hawks (and Hunter) retreated within. Once inside, Aerrow ordered everyone to their battle stations and told Stork to make a beeline away from the site. The helmsman put extra effort in when the radar detected Covenant signatures behind them.

"Do you think they spotted us?" Finn asked. A plasma bolt flew past his cannon, causing him to yelp in surprise.

"Oh yeah," Stork deadpanned, even as he threw the Condor into a dive to avoid the Banshees. "They spotted us."

"Stork get us out of here." Aerrow ordered. "Finn, Junko give us covering fire." With his squadron doing as ordered, Aerrow turned to Hunter. "I don't suppose that weapon of yours can take out Covenant aircraft?"

For his part, the Republic Agent only smirked. "I thought you'd never ask." He said as his helmet appeared over his head. "Get me on top of the Condor, and I'll do the rest." Prior to MK's departure, her partner had grabbed a weapon from the _Rogue Shadow's_ armory, which was now currently attached to Hunter's back. He hadn't really explained what it was, but he promised that it would make mincemeat out of Laccabeus' forces.

Meanwhile, Finn and Junko fired on the attacking Banshees, bringing down several from the sky. The higher caliber of the Condor's Far Side upgraded cannons were actually capable of bringing down a Banshee with one shot, while Hunter's Spartan Laser shot them all down one by one. His powers ensured that the laser wouldn't run out of charge anytime soon.

In a matter of moments, the sky had been cleared of Covenant aircraft, but it was clear that the small sortie present would've sent out a call for help, bringing even more destruction in its wake.

Stork immediately sent the Condor on a dive into the Wasteland, with Piper using a cloaking crystal amplified by the Binding to hide themselves from the Covenant patrols above them.

When they were sure they weren't being followed, Piper dropped the cloaking effect and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief and exhaustion. Hunter then dropped into the room, throwing a blackened and wrecked Spartan laser on the table.

"Always a side effect of me overcharging these." Hunter sighed. "I end up ruining the damn thing." Then he noticed the frosty mood. "I know this is a lot to process-"

"Do you?" Aerrow looked at him. "Our world is now the battleground of some imperialistic group serving our greatest enemy and a bloodthirsty alien faction fighting over something really pointless. And our people are caught in the middle of it."

The Storm Hawks had all been having similar feelings ever since they first learned where the First Order had come from, and it had only gotten worse as their campaign grew more destructive. It was at this point that Hunter remembered that despite their maturity and accomplishments, the Storm Hawks were still teenagers. Teenagers who were now fighting an enemy they had never truly imagined before now.

"I understand you're upset-"

"I bet you do." Finn, of all people, interjected. "Just like I'm sure that you've seen this type of thing before haven't you."

"It's not ideal." Hunter started. "I know the situation looks bleak, but you can make it through this-"

"That's easy for you to say." This time it was Junko who broke his train of thought. "You can leave Atmos whenever you want. Make a nice trip back to your Republic and take a vacation."

"And where is your Republic?" Piper demanded, anger breaking through her voice. "Why haven't you called them?" She was asking the question everyone had on their minds since they first met Hunter and MK.

"I have." Hunter replied, before sighing. "They have... other issues to deal with."

"Like what?!" Finn angrily demanded. "Two groups from entirely different universes are making our home into their battleground! What could possibly be more important than this?!"

Hunter's eyes narrowed and electricity danced over his hands. Instinctively, the Hawks backed away, realizing that they had touched a nerve.

"You think this is bad?! You think Laccabeus and the First Order represent the worst of the worst? They are nothing! You have no idea what kind of monstrosities exist in the multiverse." Hunter snapped, gesturing to the blackened remains of Cyclonia. "There are beings out there that would make you beg for this level of destruction! Hell, this is the bare minimum of what's necessary to stop them! The Republic and Separatists are trying to ensure that you never have to deal with them!"

The whining of Radarr made Hunter realize what he was doing. The lightning disappeared from his arms as he lowered his head and sighed.

"I'm sorry. I truly am. No one should have to suffer through an event like this." He looked up again. "The Republic was originally founded to stop attacks like these, but they could've never anticipated..." He trailed off, taking a deep breath. "Forget it, forget I said anything."

"What is it?"

"It's nothing you need to know about." The Republic agent looked back and sighed. "It's nothing even you should know about."

"You don't think we can?" Aerrow protested. "Because we're too young? You think that we can't handle it?"

"I know you can." Hunter stated sadly, surprising the Hawks even further. "But you shouldn't have to." Expectant looks were all that answered him.

With another sigh, Hunter sat down and began to explain the basics of the Flood and how dangerous they were. How the Parasite had ravaged the Forerunners, the important events and the destruction caused during the Great Flood war, to their resurrection in current times and how the Republic and Separatists were hounding them with everything they had. When it was finished, the Storm Hawks all had a look of shock on their faces.

"So," Stork cleared his throat. "On a scale of disastrous to catastrophic, how bad are the Flood?"

"Try apocalyptic." Hunter growled. "But they're not relevant at the moment." He stood up and looked hard at all of them. "You know why the Republic and Separatists can't help you any further. Now, MK and I will help however we can, but the fact of the matter is that even we can't beat Laccabeus alone."

"What do we do now?" Junko asked, as everyone turned to Aerrow.

"Set course for Atmosia." Aerrow replied. "We need to rally everyone if we want to deal with this. As for us, we should probably get some rest. It's been a long day."

...

_What worries me is that according to Hunter and MK, the Intention's Eye and the First Order are using technology that's old and outdated by their standards. And they also seemed rather... hardened with all the atrocities committed by the Covenant. Then again, if what they said was true, then the Covenant originally set out to wipe out every human in their universe, destroying hundreds of worlds in the process. I can only hope the same doesn't happen to Atmos. And that's not even getting into what they told us about what's out there and why their Republic can't come to help us... But that's a story for another time (or hopefully never)._

_We're now heading to Atmosia to plan our next move with the rest of the Sky Knights. We haven't heard from some of them in a while though; Harrier, Suzy-Lu, Wren and Dove, the kids at the academy... I just hope they're all okay._


	13. Open Ruins

The battle had started several hours ago, and still the fighting raged on, with more and more Covenant forces arriving through the portals. At this point, any of the remaining installations that hadn't been damaged beyond repair were being used to ferry the Covenant troops from the other side of Atmos, where they joined the sacking of the Far Side.

Blaster fire, crystal energy, plasma bolts and explosions erupted all over the city Cyclonis was using as her capital. More and more Covenant forces had arrived into the Far Side, carving a path through the First Order and Cyclonians. It was rather clear who the victor was likely to be.

To make matters worse, Laccabeus' troops had found the crystal powered turbolasers, and were laying siege to the installations at this very moment. The First Order was holding as best they could, but their loss was inevitable, and once it was done, the Covenant could bring the full power of the _Intention's Eye_ to bear on the Far Side.

Master Cyclonis was well aware of when she was in a losing situation, and this was one of those moments. She needed to turn things around, and quickly, otherwise this would assuredly end with her remaining power base being turned to glass.

Fortunately, good news had appeared: Domiwick had found the temple of the Ancient Ones and her loyal Night Crawlers and Talons were already there to secure it. Preliminary reports had been vague, but it seemed that this was the exact kind of discovery she was hoping for.

The First Order leadership had already evacuated from the capital city, having chosen to coordinate the defense from onboard the _Finalizer_, the repairs of which were being rushed further in order to at least get the vessel off the ground.

She was doing the same, having already moved her crystal supplies to a hidden and secure location. Now, she had one destination in mind, and had told the First Order forces to meet her there.

...

Cyclonis arrived first at the ruins Domiwick had called about, and was greeted by her Night Crawlers outside, who bowed in reverence as she approached. _As they should. _She thought as she entered into the tunnel.

"Master Cyclonis." Domiwick bowed as she approached, in both respect and fear. "We are honored to have you here."

"Spare me your sniveling, Domiwick." Cyclonis used a burst of energy to bat him aside. "This place's power will be mine alone."

"Of course, Master Cyclonis." The explorer coughed. "Right this way." Cyclonis and her Night Crawlers followed the explorer into the depths of the ruins, displaying even more awe-inspiring technology. Through it all, Domiwick was still droning on.

"We've determined that this was indeed created by the Ancient Ones of legend. The good news is that it seems to be functional even after all this time."

"And the bad news?" Cyclonis asked with falsely sweet tone.

"We... don't know how to turn it on." Domiwick sighed. "It must require something to open it, a key perhaps." By now they had reached the main control room, where the platform was hovering in the air.

"So unimaginative." Cyclonis floated forward until she was in front of a holographic console. "Let me show you." The crystal in her staff began shining even brighter before the energy bathed the room in purple light.

All across the ruins, lights and crystals turned on, long dormant machines whirring to life. Streaks of glowing patterns appeared on the walls, streaming in neat lines across the room. Rippling flame-like panels glowed even brighter, all to the awe of the Talons and Domiwick, who simply took off his hat to get a better look.

"But... how?"

"According to legend, the Ancient Ones were the first of the crystal mages." Cyclonis replied, looking over the control panel. "Obviously, their technology would respond to the same power."

A loud noise interrupted her thought process, as the single statue over the entrance way began glowing red, gathering power in its grasp. Cyclonis simply gathered her own energy and the red turned to violet, signalling her control over the device.

"Such grace, such energy." She ran her hand over the control console. "And it's all mine to control."

She brushed her hand over one symbol, and suddenly she was assaulted by visions of unimaginable power. Stars and worlds flew past at the speed of light, and through it all, she could feel the power radiating throughout the cosmos.

Then she was back in the temple, her mind still reeling from what she had just felt. So much energy, so much power. All of which would be hers to control. She just needed to access the source and then, even the First Order and Covenant would be irrelevant. The knowledge of how to do so had been burned into her head, and a wicked grin spread across her lips.

"Get the First Order here immediately." She ordered. "I need their protection while I do what must be done."

"As you command, Master." One of the Night Crawlers bowed and left, heading straight for the radio. The rest of the Talons and Night Crawlers set about their own tasks of making sure the ruins were defendable. Domiwick however, made his way to the platform.

"Master Cyclonis, you promised me the glory of this discovery." The explorer said. "I've made history by finding this place and I-" A blast of energy erupted from Cyclonis' staff, bathing Domiwick in a sickly violent glow.

"Silence you fool." The Empress of Cyclonia snarled, lifting him over the ground. "You've served your purpose."

"Bu-but we had a deal! You can't do this to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-!"

Tired of his prattling, Cyclonis had dropped the explorer down one of the shafts around the platform, into the depths underground. She couldn't be bothered to spare any second thought on him, instead opening a screen and noticing the arrival of First Order ships to the facility. She smiled evilly at the sight.

It was time.

* * *

Far from the ruins, the Covenant forces were finally assaulting the last turbolaser tower. It had been hard going, but with the support of Halmat and his Spec Ops Elites, they were breaking through nevertheless.

"Forward my brothers!" Commander Erda 'Renad shouted. "Destroy this tower and anyone foolish enough to stand in our way!"

Wraith mortars were launched into the air, striking the portable shield that protected the turbolaser generator. The Imperial technology had held against the onslaught, but cracks in the shield were showing from the strain.

The First Order retaliated with artillery fire of their own, along with an AT-AT that zeroed in on and destroyed two of the Wraiths. Banshees flitted through the air, firing plasma and fuel rods at the walker's vulnerable areas, but the joints held, and AA missiles from First Order lines retaliated against the Covenant aircraft, destroying two and damaging a third, forcing them to retreat.

The stalemate almost seemed destined to continue, the First Order having pulled most of their troops back to this battery and dug in, determined to weather the Covenant attack. Unfortunately for them, events would soon change.

The first indication that things had gone wrong was when the technician maintaining the shield generator around the turbolaser power source was lifted into the air by two blue prongs of energy.

Shadow Troopers and Terror troopers noticed immediately and moved to deal with the threat, but the Spec Ops Elites retaliated with plasma and needle fire, killing many of the defenders before they could react. Meanwhile, the sword wielding Elite had thrown a plasma grenade into the shield generator, which instantly caused the shield to collapse.

After being denied for so long, Covenant forces charged forward with renewed zeal. Brutes and Elites led the way, slaughtering through the infantry while Covenant armor attacked the tower and generators.

Plasma ate through the durasteel metal, simultaneously vaporizing anyone unlucky enough to be in the impact zone. The aliens refused to stop, raking the area with more energy and gunning down any First Order soldier still standing.

Within minutes, the last of the turbolaser batteries was nothing more than a charred wreck, just like the rest of the towers. The Covenant around cheered and roared, feeling rather elated with their victory. Commander 'Renad, meanwhile, sent a message through the battlenet, one which immediately entered the bridge of the _Intention's Eye_.

* * *

"Shipmaster, all the First Order batteries have been destroyed." Makterbus reported. "Our forces have gained control over a significant amount of the Far Side."

"What about this end of the world. Have all our forces returned?" Laccabeus asked, having recalled the Covenant from the rest of Atmos soon after the portals had opened to the Far Side.

"Yes Shipmaster, they are aboard and ready for battle."

"Then let's not waste any more time." Laccabeus stood up. "The First Order's destruction is long overdue."

The _Intention's Eye_ began moving once more, making its way to the other side of the planet. With none of the First Order's crystal enhanced turbolaser batteries to bring the vessel down, the tables had turned. It was time to put an end to this.

...

Back on the Far Side, the combined forces of the Atmosian Sky Knights, who had linked up with the few resistance members still remaining in the Far Side, were making their own way to the ruins Cyclonis was after, the location of which was known thanks to the _Rogue Shadow's_ scanning system. Those same scanners soon detected a new problem, one which Jarvis was quick to share.

"The _Intention's Eye_ has abandoned its position over Terra Tropica." The AI reported. "It's heading this way."

"How long until it gets to the Far Side?" Aerrow asked over the radio. The answer wasn't very encouraging.

"Approximately an hour at its current speed." Jarvis replied. "With the First Order batteries destroyed, it will be able to operate with impunity."

"Meaning Laccabeus will just glass the First Order without giving a damn about any collateral damage." Hunter summed it up.

"Well, there is some good news." Finn flew back in formation, having been scouting the path ahead. "We do seem to be in the right place."

"Alright, I'll bite." Piper sighed. "How do you know that?"

"Because the First Order is heading to the same place in full force."

"Well that's just great." Harrier complained. "Now how are we supposed to get in?" At that moment, the Republic AI let himself be heard over the radio.

"There is a hidden pathway below." Jarvis reported. "It does not seem like the Cyclonians have detected it."

"Alright, we'll go in first and make sure it's safe." Aerrow gestured to the rest of the Storm Hawks and the Republic agents. "With any luck, we'll find a way to get us around the First Order."

"Copy that." Starling nodded. "Good luck."

Silently, Aerrow, Radarr, Piper, Finn, Junko, Hunter and MK made their way down to the side of the mountain, where the passage was hidden. Stork had remained behind with the Condor again, but they were joined by Kara, a young girl from the Far Side who was considered an expert in mythology about the Ancient Ones.

"So, Kara." Piper started. "What do you know about these Ancient Ones?"

"To be honest, not much." The young silver haired girl replied. "All we ever knew were legends. Honestly, I've been searching for answers for a long time."

"Well, you've come to the right place." A voice emerged from the shadows, prompting everyone to activate their weapons and point them in its direction. "Good to see you all too." The voice came closer as a figure stepped into the light, revealing-

"Domiwick." Piper's voice was almost a growl. The explorer smiled coldly.

"Welcome to the ruins of the Ancient Ones, Storm Hawks."

* * *

"It's about time you've arrived." Cyclonis growled, as Snoke, Vestara and Phasma walked out of their dropship, the former once more wearing his Dark Trooper armor. Behind them, more First Order dropships were landing, deploying anyone still battle ready that they could spare on short notice.

"Our apologies." Snoke said. "It was a little difficult to get here, what with the battle still raging as we speak."

"Never mind that." The young dictator snapped. "If everything goes according to plan here, the Covenant will be irrelevant."

"If you say so." Vestara responded doubtfully. "What do you need us to do?"

Unknown to Cyclonis, the First Order was considering their little endeavor on Atmos to be a loss. With only the Far Side to deal with, they could accept some casualties, but with those two Republic agents and the Covenant in the mix, attrition was not favoring them.

In fact, the _Finalizer's_ repairs were all but complete, with preparations to take off if this final deployment didn't work out. Truth be told, they were planning to leave anyway, but Cyclonis' almost desperate plea for protection convinced Snoke that whatever was here could be very useful. The young dictator had never begged before, so this was likely something rather important.

And once they saw what was here, Snoke and his commanders couldn't help but agree. The technology here was surprisingly advanced, especially for a civilization that hadn't shown their capabilities to be all that spectacular, beyond crystals of course.

At this point, the three of them had followed Cyclonis into the ruins, where she was standing on a floating platform with suprisingly advanced (for Atmos anyway) holographic consoles around her.

"Just protect this generator no matter the cost." She replied.

"And what exactly are you going to do, precisely?" Phasma spoke up for the first time. "What is all this supposed to accomplish?"

"It's simple really." Cyclonis said. "This device will open a portal to a power beyond imagining. After that... well, you'll see." The three extraterrestrial humans looked at each other dubiously.

"If you say so." Vestara muttered.

Hesitantly, the First Order leaders left to join and coordinate their troops, while Cyclonis began powering up the generators around her. One by one, the the power became active after being disused for so long, and blue/white energy began gathering in the roof of the chamber.

_So it begins. _Cyclonis thought.

* * *

"**So it ends**." A rasping baritone voice echoed.


	14. War for the World

The _Intention's Eye_ flew through the strange skies of the Far Side, its forces either securing key areas or being extracted back as the carrier flew past. Onboard the vessel's bridge, Laccabeus looked over the data readings.

The news was fairly encouraging: the First Order's hold on the Far Side had been all but broken, having fallen before the Shipmaster's army. The Cyclonians had attempted to aid their erstwhile allies, but all they really accomplished was providing the Covenant with more targets.

That's not to say that the aliens had made it through unscathed, however. Casualties among his own troops were higher than the Shipmaster would've liked, and a lot of armor and equipment had been lost during the fighting.

Nevertheless, they had succeeded, and all that remained now was to track down the last holdout of the First Order and burn it to glass. Laccabeus was pulled from his musings when the sensor operator called out.

"Shipmaster, we're detecting a spike of extradimensional energy."

"Is it the First Order? Have they retreated like the cowards they are?"

"Negative, the power source is far too strong to be the Star Destroyer." There was a brief pause. "In fact, some of these readings seem like they come from the crystals of this world."

"Shipmaster." The comm operator spoke up. "Recon elements report that the First Order leadership has been spotted in that area."

"They're not trying to flee?" Makterbus' confused voice muttered. "Why would they stay behind?"

"Either they can't leave..." Laccabeus paused. "Or they may have found something worthwhile here. What's our time to that location?"

"Roughly five minutes." The navigator replied. "But that'll mean abandoning most of our soldiers and military equipment."

"Very well." Laccabeus stood up. "Prepare my Lich and load up four flights of Phantoms. The _Eye_ will continue on schedule and extract our soldiers."

"Understood, Shipmaster."

* * *

At the ruins themselves, the Storm Hawks and Republic agents along with their Far Side guide Kara had encountered I.J. Domiwick in the catacombs they were using to infiltrate the facility. Now, everyone had their weapons out and pointed at the explorer, who was rather unconcerned about the hostile individuals in front of him.

"Please, if I meant you any harm, I could've done so by now."

"Forgive us if we don't trust your word." Piper said sarcastically, hovering in the air as a blue aura surrounded her. "You've only ever looked out for yourself. So why would you help us now?"

"Because Cyclonis betrayed me!" The explorer shouted, either missing or ignoring Finn muttering "Big shocker." as he ranted. "I did exactly as she asked and this is the thanks I get?! Getting tossed out like some unwanted garbage?"

"You've betrayed Atmos time and time again." Kara said. "And now you've led the Cyclonians to the most powerful beings ever known to have existed on out world. Why exactly should we care?"

"Because I can help you get up there." The explorer replied. "Cyclonis doesn't know I've survived, which means I can lead you back up to the main control room."

The Storm Hawks all looked at each other, undecided about this. On one hand, if they were going to get the Sky Knights in here and stop Cyclonis' plan in time, they may need some help.

On the other hand, they all knew how untrustworthy the explorer actually was, so he could just be leading them into a trap. In the end, Aerrow decided to take him along, figuring that it would be better to keep him close if he tried to betray them, rather than getting stabbed in the back.

After explaining his thought process to the rest of the Storm Hawks and Kara, they reluctantly agreed, though it was stipulated that Domiwick would be surrounded at all times to keep him from trying anything underhanded.

As they began following Domiwick's path, Aerrow realized that Hunter and MK had been rather quiet, having not said a single word during the argument. Looking back, he noticed that they seemed to be scanning the design on the walls, for whatever reason.

...

Hunter stared at a statue representation of what the Ancient Ones supposedly looked like. It was very, very familiar. MK noticed it as well, surreptitiously glancing in her partner's direction before putting their focus back on the Storm Hawks and Domiwick.

"Looks familiar, doesn't it?" MK's voice came over their private comms. "I think we can all guess who made this place."

"It can't be, it's probably just a coincidence." Hunter's half-hearted denial was hollow. Honestly, he couldn't even pretend to convince himself of that. "Oh, who am I kidding, we can tell exactly who this belonged to."

"Looks like Atmos has far more than we realized." Jarvis said.

The Republic agents refocused on the conversation the others were having. It seemed Domiwick was getting a little big headed (though that wasn't exactly new), while everyone else was trying to rein him in. It was clear that none of them had any actual clue as to who created this place.

"These ruins now belong to us." Domiwick was saying. "The Ancient Ones have left them for us."

"Just like every other place you've discovered?" Piper snarked.

"This place belongs to the Ancient Ones." Their guide said, glaring sternly at Domiwick. "Some of the older cultures even considered them to be gods, but that's a matter for another time."

"And that time is now." Domiwick said, turning to Piper. "They were the first of the Crystal Mages, they understood the crystals better than anyone. It's how Cyclonis is working with this place so well."

"I hate to correct you on what you think you know." Hunter entered the conversation. "But you're all wrong."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"This place belonged to the Chozo." Hunter explained. "They were an alien race with some gifted with the ability to see the future. But they were never gods, and they'll be the first to admit that."

"How can you tell that?" Domiwick pompously asked.

"The writing's on the wall." MK replied, gesturing to one of the strange flaming panels that had been seen elsewhere by Domiwick. "Quite literally in fact."

"What, the paintings?" Kara asked. "We've seen similar works elsewhere, but no one in the Far Side has ever been able to understand the meanings of these glyphs."

"Because they're not paintings, they're data logs." MK said, as her partner began scanning the nearest wall. "The Chozo had a tendency to encode their data logs on walls like this."

"So, why were they here?" Piper asked, still finding this hard to accept. "What would these Ancients want with us?"

"The Ancients were curious about this world." Hunter explained. "The Chozo in particular were interested to learn how so many different sapient species could evolve on one planet like this. So, they came down here, abandoning their own technology and simply using what the land had available."

"Of course, considering your world is filled with magical crystals, and considering the Chozo had experience with magic, they could do quite a lot." MK finished. "It's not unprecedented for them to abandon much of their higher technology and embrace the tools of the planet they're on."

Obviously, the native inhabitants were floored upon hearing this. The very idea that their world had been host to an alien species thousands of years ago, a species that made the Covenant look like barbarians, was rather hard to comprehend.

Kara, Piper and Domiwick found it especially difficult to believe, as this new information drew all their previous studies and research into question. The fact that Hunter and MK were so calm wasn't lost on them, having no doubt seen this reaction before. Quickly, Aerrow recovered from his shock and spoke up, to get everyone's focus to the task at hand.

"Alright, we can discuss all this later." He said. "We've still got a job to do. Now, we need someone to scout ahead."

"We can do that." Hunter interjected but his partner cut him off.

"No you need to stay here in case someone activates a Chozo trap." MK said, looking pointedly at Junko and Finn. "I'll go scout ahead."

"I'm coming too." Piper interjected. "You said this place responds to a Crystal Mage, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"So, I'm going with you." The crystal mage crossed her arms. "I have a cloaking crystal, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Then it's settled." Aerrow stepped in before anyone could argue. "Piper, MK, go check out the ruins. See if you can find a way for us to sneak everyone in."

The two females of the group nodded and vanished, MK with a thought and Piper after pulling out a cloaking crystal. The two of them made their way deeper into the catacombs, leaving the rest alone. Once he was sure they were gone, the pompous explorer spoke up.

"They're not going to find anything." Domiwick said smugly. "I went through all the ruins, and didn't find squat."

"Well you don't know the Chozo at all." Hunter replied. "They loved to build pretty much everything with hidden pathways and secret rooms. Lord knows you've probably missed a hell of a lot."

...

As Piper and MK discovered, the Cyclonians had indeed missed out on a number of secret passages. Some of them needed the power of a Crystal Mage to access, but others were as easy as locating a hidden switch.

With the secret passages and their cloaking, the two of them moved through the ruins unseen, scouting out and marking the locations with heavy concentrations of enemies. Idly, MK noted that the First Order wasn't very entrenched, no doubt due to having only arrived a very short time ago. It would give them an advantage when the time came to fight.

"So, can we take anything that could help us?" Piper whispered abruptly, gesturing to one of the Chozo statues, which was holding a small cylinder. "If these Chozo are as powerful as you claim, couldn't we use more of their own tech against the Cyclonians?"

"I'm not sure that's wise." MK murmured. "For all their faults, the Chozo had some fairly effective protection for most of their important stuff. Unless your name is Samus Aran, the ruins probably won't let you take anything from them, at least not without setting off some sort of alarm."

Almost as if on cue, Piper, who was merely approaching the statue to get a closer look, took a step back as the statue began moving. MK's powers flared, but the carving merely put its hand out, offering the cylinder to Piper.

"... And now I stand corrected." MK said, surprised at the assistance of the crystal powered Chozo statue. "I guess Crystal Mages do have the magic touch here."

Piper put her hand on the cylinder, which suddenly displayed a hologram of some sort of machine, and a control room, which matched the description of what Domiwick had been talking about earlier.

The device was powered by three Infinity stones and a Helix crystal. MK had a brief worried reaction at the mention of the former for some reason, but she quickly relaxed, so Piper didn't dwell on it, too focused on studying the machine.

"Ok, I'll be honest." She said after a moment. "I've got no clue what I'm looking at here."

"It looks like a portal device of some sort." MK said, stepping closer to the hologram. "Definitely Chozo designed, but I can't say more for sure until we've examined it in full. Suffice to say, though, this is the main thing this facility was built for, and why it has those crystals. It would need a lot of energy to use Atmos' tech base to open a rift."

"Well at least we can confirm what Cyclonis has planned." Piper put the cylinder back, letting the hologram disperse. "I guess we should keep searching."

The two cloaked females kept up their search, eventually finding what they were looking for. Unfortunately, they had an issue with where it exited and when they decloaked back with the group, Aerrow was quick to pick up on it.

"Piper, MK, what did you find?"

"Well, the good news is we've found a way to get all the Sky Knights into the ruins." Piper said. "There's a hidden passage that'll get them into the facility."

"And the bad news?" Finn deadpanned.

"It's located right on top of a First Order checkpoint." MK replied. "There isn't really any way to get them through quietly."

"So, we're going to need a distraction." Junko guessed.

"Well we won't have to wait long for that." Jarvis' hologram appeared in the palm of Hunter's hand. Upon the questioning looks he got, the AI clarified. "The Covenant are going to do that job for us."

* * *

Banshee airstrikes signaled the arrival of the Covenant, as a dozen Phantoms and a single Lich flew towards the complex, no doubt due to Laccabeus looking to capture this place rather than destroy it.

The First Order's hastily set up defenses were ill-equipped to prevent the aliens from landing, and it didn't take long for a significant ground conflict to get into place. A pair of Wraiths shelled the doors, dispatching four AT-KTs before they could inflict any damage on the infantry.

"Onward my brothers!" Laccabeus raised his hammer like a banner. "We will burn the First Order out of these ruins and take them ourselves!"

The First Order and Cyclonian forces were so distracted by the arrival of the Covenant that none of them noticed Hunter and MK sneaking into one of their positions to get the passage open for the Sky Knights.

Of course, they finally took notice once Skimmer and Heliscooter engine noises emerged from the tunnel, but by then, the Storm Hawks were already helping the Republic agents and by the time the rest of the Sky Knights had gathered, their enemies in the room were either unconscious or dead.

"You've all been busy." Starling noted, while everyone else was looking around, some of the Sky Knights gaping in awe at the facility.

"So this is the complex of the Ancient Ones." One of the Far Side warriors murmured, his tone slightly reverent. "To be in such glory..."

The Storm Hawks considered explaining the truth about the ruins, but the sound of explosions coming from elsewhere drew everyone's attention to the battle raging outside. Then a group of Shadow Troopers led by a Phase Zero Dark trooper emerged into the room, pausing in confusion at the unexpected intruders.

"So much for stealth." Hunter's arms were suddenly wrapped in electricity, as the battle began in earnest.

* * *

All throughout the complex, pandemonium reigned. The Cyclonians and Sky Knights were dueling on the ground, a rather difficult situation for them in these enclosed quarters. Meanwhile, the First Order and Covenant had much more training in this regard, and were putting it to use against the other side, willing to destroy each other no matter the cost.

And in the center of it all, barely paying attention from behind the nigh-invulnerable (to ground fire anyway) Chozo shield was Master Cyclonis, who was manipulating the controls of the portal device.

The Sky Knights and Covenant were trying to break through the barriers, albeit for different reasons, but the First Order and Cyclonians refused to let their patron/leader be harmed at this stage, and worked to repel the attackers however they could.

Hunter and MK were doing their part, freezing and electrocuting any enemy in their path, be it Cyclonian, Covenant or First Order. All the while, Jarvis was scanning the complex to find a weakness in the shield, but when he reported back, that wasn't the news he had brought.

...

To the organics in the room, the battle was moving at a rather chaotic speed, but for an AI like Jarvis, it was a fairly leisurely time. Oh, he still had to coordinate a lot while doing his duties to his charges, but wasn't as stressful for him as it was for them.

In addition to coordinating the _Shadow_ and his agents as well as supplying them with information, the AI was currently scanning the portal device, while also looking for a weakness in the shield itself.

At that moment, he noticed a strange signal hidden near the control panel that Cyclonis was operating, which was abruptly cut off when he tried to take a comprehensive scan. Digitally frowning, Jarvis played the recorded part of his memory to try and determine what the signal was. It was rather familiar, but not a normal Chozo code-

Abruptly, he recognized the markers in the signal and closed himself off from everything, running a million diagnostics in his code within a second to ensure he hadn't been corrupted. Fortunately, he was unaffected, but it was clear that this warranted attention.

Jarvis then noticed his scanning subsystems had determined where the portal was going to lead. Combined with what he had just noticed, and it was rather clear what had caused Cyclonis to choose those particular coordinates. Hunter and MK needed to be informed immediately.

...

"Sir, we have a huge problem." Hunter cocked his head at the sound of Jarvis' voice. It wasn't his normal British deadpan. In fact, the AI sounded rather panicked.

"What is it, Jarvis?"

"The portal Cyclonis is forming." The AI quickly said. "I know where it's going to end up."

MK and Hunter listened to the explanation, then both of them paled behind their helmets. Turning to the Storm Hawks, Hunter quickly ran over to Aerrow, electrocuting several enemies that were trying to attack him from behind.

"Thanks for the help."

"Don't thank me yet." Hunter said rapidly. "We need to shut down the portal right now."

"That's what we're trying to do." Piper exasperatedly said, firing a blast of energy that sent several Night Crawlers flying. "We've still got a whole lot of enemies to go through."

"Well, we need to change that and fast." MK said. "We know where the portal will open." She quickly filled them in and once she was done, the Storm Hawks were understandably terrified.

"Is she crazy?!" Finn shrieked.

"Why would Cyclonis do something like this?" Piper asked.

"I'm honestly not sure she realizes the truth." Hunter replied. "For that matter, neither do the First Order, or they sure as hell wouldn't be going along with this."

"Change of plans then." Aerrow said, raising his voice and activating his comm so that the rest of the Sky Knights could hear him. "Guys, look for any way to shut that thing down as fast as possible! We can't let Cyclonis open a gateway."

"Shut the portal down, no matter the cost!" MK shouted, echoing Aerrow's statement. "We can't let Cyclonis open the breach!"

"That's what we're trying to do." Dove said, narrowly avoiding a blaster bolt. "It's not exactly easy."

"Forget the battle!" The electrokinetic replied, launching himself into the air. "Just focus on turning off Cyclonis' machine."

"Wait, where is Hunter going?" Starling asked, seeing that the Republic agent was heading towards the battle that was raging between the Covenant and the First Order.

"He's going to get the Covenant and First Order to help us." That drew several incredulous looks from the Sky Knights.

"He can't possibly expect them to listen to him!" Harrier protested.

"Oh, they will." MK stated grimly. "Otherwise they'll die too."

...

Hunter leapt into the middle of the largest firefight, with Snoke in his Dark Trooper suit bearing down on Laccabeus and his own forces. Vestara was also present among the First Order, with Halmat on the Covenant side.

"Attention, all First Order and Covenant forces!"

Hunter's voice echoed through the battlenet on both sides, thanks in no small part due to Jarvis' work. Unfortunately (but also unsurpringly), neither side bothered to listen to his voice. He sighed in frustration, already knowing that he'd need a different approach.

Tossing a few luma grenades, the fighting briefly paused as a bright flash of light blinded them for a moment. Hunter's visor had polarized to protect him from the worst of the light, and when it vanished, the few fighters who still had their sight turned to look at him, with more regaining their vision and doing the same.

"Do I have your attention now?" Arcs of electricity danced around his body, his voice echoing from every comm system. "You all need to turn your attention to Cyclonis' portal. We need your help to shut it down."

In response, several blaster bolts impacted him, his shields absorbing the impact before he ducked down behind cover. The energy barrage stopped quickly when they had to refocus their attention on the Covenant. Even still, Snoke took the time to reply.

"Do you really expect us to betray Cyclonis?"

"Oh don't pretend you have any loyalty to her." He snarked. "She's the means to an end to you."

"An end that will be crushed." A massive chunk of debris followed Laccabeus' voice, narrowly missing the Republic agent. "As will the rest of you."

Snarling, Hunter unleashed a massive electrical wave into the fray, the damage dispersed but still managing to be annoying enough to get the attention of many of the combatants, including the leaders.

"Listen to me!" Hunter roared. "Cyclonis is opening a portal into Flood territory!"

To the confusion and terror of the free Atmos forces (with the exception of the Storm Hawks), the First Order and Covenant actually stopped firing at each other, something everyone else had actually never seen before. Now, most of them couldn't read alien body language very well, but the stances of the First Order soldiers and the expression of Vestara indicated that both sides were terrified.

"You don't believe me?" Hunter said rhetorically, and gestured to Vestara. "Ask her!"

With the looks being directed at her, Vestara didn't waste any time, reaching out with the Force, sending her awareness through the still developing breach. To her fear, she felt the familiar yawning hunger that threatened to swallow up every fiber of her being, a feeling that she personally had not had the displeasure of experiencing since the Gravemind had corrupted the Force during the Great Flood War.

"It's them." She murmured in terror. "And they're getting closer."

There was a moment of silence as the rival armies digested this truth, then a single voice roared over the Covenant battlenet.

"All units, focus fire on the generator!" Laccabeus ordered. "Shut it down, now!"

"Destroy the generator!" Snoke echoed on his own comms, turning around and pointing his own weapons at the Chozo device. "Do not let the Flood through!"

Blaster bolts, plasma fire, missiles, fuel rods, needles, plasma mortars and more filled the air, all being directed towards the generator Cyclonis was manipulating. But the shields held against the onslaught, the Chozo crafted device weathering the storm with ease. Having noticed the barrage, Cyclonis angrily unleashed a shockwave through the shield, scattering those around like leaves on the wind.

"Traitors!" Cyclonis snarled. "You dare attack me, Snoke? And you, Vestara?" The young Sith Lord rose to her feet, trying to get through to the younger dictator.

"Cyclonis, you have to stop this!" The Sith shouted. "You're dealing with powers you have no hope to control!"

"There is nothing, I cannot bind, to my will!" Cyclonis shouted. "I will have power beyond what even your pitiful Force can possess!"

"The Flood are deceiving you." Snoke shouted. "Whatever power you think you've seen, they're just manipulating you!"

"If you do this, you'll release a plague like nothing you've ever seen on Atmos!" Hunter joined in. "All life will be consumed, including you!" Cyclonis ignored their warnings, instead concentrating on getting the portal open.

"She's being controlled." MK said. "Most likely through some form of the logic plague."

"We have to stop her before-" A beam of white light and a rumble in the sky interrupted Aerrow as a rift opened up into space itself. "... she does that..."

Millions of stars could be seen through the portal, but what could also be seen was a mass of dark spots, that quickly emerged from nowhere, resolving themselves into unfamiliar (to the Atmosians) squid-like shapes.

"What are those things?" Dove asked, ducking as a crystal blast barely missed her head.

"Flood-controlled Reapers." It was Snoke who answered, his voice tight with fear. He turned to the Republic agents. "You need to do something!"

"We don't have to." Hunter said, pointing to the rift. "Our benefactors will."

...

The Flood weren't alone for long; about ten seconds after they arrived, more ships appeared behind them and immediately opened fire, burning the Parasite vessels out of the sky. The Republic and Separatists had immediately given chase, both from their own detection of the Parasite, and Jarvis' report.

The two superpowers started decimating the Flood, the Parasite force present at a disadvantage in a noticeable lack of advanced vessels from its losses during the Great Flood War. That wasn't to say it was easy, however, as the Flood didn't need to win, merely get through the portal and invade Atmos.

Which was why the Covenant, First Order, and Sky Knights were now working together to break the shield around the generator, firing artillery and infantry scale weapons alike to try and pierce the barrier, but to little luck.

"Keep firing!" Aerrow shouted. "No matter what, we've got to take that thing out."

Fortunately, opportunity emerged when Piper unleashed all of her Binding power into the shield. It had a noticeable effect, with Cyclonis breaking from her concentration as she found the barrier falling.

"Don't let up!" Piper shouted to everyone else. "She's weakening!"

At her words, more weapons fire was poured into the spot Piper had hit, which was clearly fluctuating from the strain. Cyclonis tried to halt it with her own energy, but Piper empowered Aerrow and herself before the two lovers unleashed the power again.

"STOP THIS!" Cyclonis screamed. "I WILL NOT BE DENIED!"

The shield generator overloaded, causing a feedback loop of energy that struck the portal device and the control platform, with Cyclonis still standing on it. There was a flash of bright light and everyone could hear the young dictator scream before the light disappeared, leaving a shattered platform with no Cyclonis in sight.

No one could tell if the Master had been disintegrated or transported elsewhere, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was that the forming portal was starting to collapse, slowly shrinking and shifting as soon as the energy sent to it had been cut off.

The Flood, seeing that their window was closing, had several ships break off from the battle and made a beeline for the rapidly dissolving breach. Several Republic and Separatist vessels, having stayed away in anticipation of something like this, immediately targeted the fleeing ships, blasting them out of the sky. But so many were trying to break free, and the sniping vessels were being hard-pressed.

From the Atmos side, Hunter and MK watched with increasing worry as several Flood ships approached the breach. Fortunately, the portal had nearly closed, and soon they would be unable to break through.

The Storm Hawks and gathered Atmosians cheered, as the closest vessel to the breach, a Reaper destroyer, was hit by an energy beam that had pierced the core of a Reaper capital ship, just as the portal closed with a brief flash.

The cheering halted when they saw that a flaming destroyer had made it through. Several of it's legs were missing or falling off, the top of its 'head' was all but gone, and debris trailed from the crashing wreck. But that was more than enough Flood to bring Atmos to its end.

"No." Hunter's voice didn't rise above a whisper, but the horror was clearly present.

...

From his position on the Condor, Stork watched as the ship fell to the ground. It had emerged from the portal, belching fire and smoke, but it still had patches of green on it, similar to the holograms Hunter and MK showed him. He had said it many times before but it felt much more fitting this time around.

"We're doomed."


	15. Changing Tides

The worst case scenario for Atmos had come to pass: the Flood had arrived. Already debris trailed the wreck of the Reaper Destroyer, breaking off and allowing surviving Flood forms to touch the ground.

Emergency code Alpha Black!" MK shouted into her comms. "We need fire support, right now!"

"We're on en route." The response came quickly. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

While the two Republic agents were calling in reinforcements, the rest of the Sky Knights watched in terror and confusion as the ship came to rest, but only the Storm Hawks knew the truth of what had arrived. Well, them, the First Order and Laccebeus' forces, the leaders and soldiers of which were already moving to retreat from the ruins.

The vessel crash landed near one of the Far Side settlements, a small village within close proximity to the ruins. A massive cloud of dust and smoke was thrown up by the impact, obscuring events from view.

Idly, some of the Sky Knights noticed that the Covenant and First Order air forces were moving towards the crash site, but all of them felt somewhat relieved when skimmers began emerging from the smoke and dust... right up until the alien invaders started firing on them.

"What are they doing?!" Dove questioned in horror, immediately willing to return to her skimmer and help, the Rebel Ducks moving as well. They weren't the only ones, as the Rex Guardians, Absolute Zeroes and Screaming Queens moved as well, but found their paths barred by a wall of electrified ice.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." Hunter said, his voice deathly quiet. "We have to minimize the spread."

"What are you talking about?" Harrier said incredulously. "We need to help those survivors!"

"Those aren't survivors." MK's whisper was also deathly quiet. "They're infected."

"Infected with what?" The answer to Starling's question came from an unlikely source (from her perspective).

"The Flood." Aerrow said, his voice barely above a whisper.

...

While the First Order's air forces did what they could to curb the spread of the Parasite, their leadership was evacuating back to the _Finalizer_, which was already being powered up under Hux's command.

As they flew back, Snoke's thoughts grew more concerned by the moment. Ultimately, he didn't care what happened to this world, but the arrival of the Flood would almost certainly bring the two multiversal superpowers as well, and for all the man's boasting, Snoke knew that the First Order had no chance to fight even one of their weakest vessels. They needed to leave right now.

"Sir, what do we do?" Phasma's voice cut into Snoke's thoughts. The General turned to the armored Captain.

"Prepare evacuation procedures and get all surviving soldiers back on board immediately. With Cyclonis gone, we have no reason to stay, especially now."

"What about the Flood?" Vestara asked. "We can't just leave them unchecked."

"The _Eye's _forces are doing a fair job at curbing them already." Snoke countered. "And I have no doubt that Republic and Separatist forces are en route. No, we need to leave, before the Flood come for us as well."

Vestara and Phasma exchanged a glance, almost wishing to argue, but decided against it. Snoke was right; they were in no position to fight the Parasite off themselves, not with all the casualties they had suffered in their war for Atmos.

...

Meanwhile, Laccabeus stood in his Lich, looking out from the opening and watching as his Phantoms evacuated from the ruins. Further in the distance, his Banshees were engaging the Flood outbreak, doing everything in their power to slow it down.

At the moment, they seemed to have it in hand, but the longer the Flood could fester, the more likely it would be for them to escape. The _Intention's Eye_ technically had the firepower to destroy the Parasite quickly, but Laccabeus refused to leave his forces behind, especially when it was almost certain that Republic and Separatist forces were on their way. Activating a channel through the Battlenet, his voice quickly reached the carrier's bridge.

"Makterbus, I want you to accelerate the evacuation. Make sure every survivor gets on board a Phantom and ensure that quarantine procedures are enacted."

"Shipmaster, many of our troops are still in the middle of loading our equipment." Makterbus reported. "If we speed up the process now, we'll abandon much of our weapons and vehicles on this world."

"Forget the equipment. Destroy it if you have to." Laccabeus walked up to the cockpit of the Lich, standing over the pilots. "Just get everyone on board the _Eye_."

Ordering the pilots to get them to the carrier quickly, Laccabeus sighed inwardly. He was feeling like a coward, doing so little to stop the Flood from consuming this world, but his crew's survival was far more important to him and a bigger priority.

Once they were safely aboard however, he would order the _Eye_ to cleanse the Infection as best they could, at least until the multiversal superpowers appeared. After that, hopefully they would be too busy to notice their escape.

...

Back at the Chozo ruins, the rest of the Sky Knights and Far Side inhabitants had been given a brief rundown on what the Flood was and what they were capable of. The reactions were fairly predictable, horror and disbelief being prominent.

It didn't help when the _Intention's Eye_ started glassing the infected region, yet the two Republic agents were adamant that they were to be given free reign to 'do what must be done.'

"You don't understand." Hunter said. "The only way to remove the Flood is to cleanse every trace of its existence."

"And that requires burning our world to the ground?" Kara demanded, barely holding back tears. "Killing any survivors who may still live in those regions?"

"As opposed to suffering for all eternity?" MK replied. "I don't like this either, but it's a mercy compared to what the Flood will do."

"Well, you'd better hurry." Finn interjected, looking through some binoculars. "Because the Covenant aren't holding them!" The rest looked and saw what he was talking about.

The surviving skimmers scattered all across the Far Side, avoiding the attempts to shoot them down and managing to crash land in the wilderness and few scattered villages. It didn't take long for the Parasite to keep spreading further, in order to stay ahead of the _Eye's_ attempts to glass the infestation.

One skimmer managed to break the blockade and headed for the Chozo ruins, crash landing just before the Sky Knights and depositing Flood combat forms in front of them. Horrified at the monstrosities, most of them raised their weapons, but it turns out they needn't have bothered.

The Chozo statues, a dozen of which were lined upon the walls, started shifting, all the lights in them glowing red before beams of energy erupted from their eyes, targeting the Flood combat forms and turning them to dust.

"How do we stop this?" Starling asked, actually fearful for once.

"Republic and Separatist forces are already en route." Jarvis said. "They'll burn the infestation out no matter the cost."

"And what of survivors?" One Far Side resident asked.

"I repeat, they'll burn the infestation out, no matter the cost."

Their conversation was interrupted at that moment from an unlikely source: A voice broke through the crystal array previously used by Cyclonis to broadcast her announcements to all of Atmos. It was a monstrous sound, a composite of millions of voices speaking in one single rasping baritone.

"**Do not be afraid. I am peace. I am salvation.**"

"They better get here quickly." Finn said. "Or there won't be an Atmos to save!"

Right on cue, four portals opened up and Republic and Separatist ships emerged, two of each faction's vessel. Two of them were 1/1.5 km Destroyer-class ships, which would burn out large pockets of infection. The smaller 800 meter long frigates would provide close fire support to incinerate any straggler attempting to escape.

The four ships in orbit targeted the Flood controlled regions, occasionally firing pinpoint bolts of energy that utterly disintegrated the infected aircraft, keeping them from spreading any further.

Fighters and drones were also deployed to handle the aircraft, the Atmosian created skimmers and airships having little defense against the far more advanced weaponry, allowing the capital ships to keep their focus on what was important.

After that, the Republic and Separatist warships immediately focused on the still spreading infestation on the ground. Wasting no time, beams of energy lanced out, incinerating the infestation's heart before spreading through the rest, leaving trails of magma in their wake.

Through all this, the Sky Knights became aware that the First Order and Covenant forces had retreated completely, having known just how outmatched they were against the Republic and the Separatists.

A fact that the residents were just starting to grasp, as the two superpowers went about ruthlessly dismantling the Flood presence as it spread, unleashing firepower that suddenly made the Sky Knights very glad that the Republic and Separatists had no interest in taking over the planet. Of course, the destruction wasn't exactly pleasant either...

...

Several hours later, the Flood had been completely purged from Atmos by the two superpowers, who were now in the process of searching through the Chozo ruins and scouring what they could find.

The Sky Knights and other inhabitants of the Far Side had been subjected to rigorous scans by strange robots and unknown alien creatures to ensure that the Flood hadn't managed to infect them.

Due to the widespread air travel on Atmos, the Flood had been able to spread fairly far before they were contained. A large region of the Far Side had been completely reduced to cinders in order to curb the spread of the Parasite. But they were gone, and the people could rebuild.

"Alright, you're all clean." Hunter's voice interrupted Aerrow's thoughts. "We've also scanned the rest of the region and can assure you that no Flood are hiding elsewhere."

"What about the _Intention's Eye_ and the _Finalizer_?" Aerrow asked. "Couldn't they have brought the Flood with them?"

"No, we scanned them as they fled." Jarvis replied. "Both ships were clean."

"And more importantly, they're gone." MK said. "As are the Flood."

"Then... we've won?" Finn could hardly believe it, and he wasn't the only one. "It's finally over?"

"Yes." Hunter said. "It's over."


	16. Epilogue

Master Cyclonis groaned as she awoke, struggling to rise to her feet. Fortunately, her staff had landed nearby and she used it to get a steady grip as she tried to piece together what happened.

The last thing she remembered was... that's right. She had opened the portal and been so close to uncovering the great power when the First Order had turned on her and the combined forces of all of her enemies caused the generator to overload and then... she was here.

Cyclonis finally got a good look around and her eyes widened. This was definitely not Atmos. Mainly because Atmos was not shattered into thousands upon thousands of floating pieces containing mountains, buildings, terrain and more.

"Where-where am I?"

...

The _Finalizer_ was still in hyperspace after fleeing from the multiversal superpowers, having only paused briefly to scan the ship thoroughly and ensure that no Flood had made it on board. Thankfully, the vessel was cleared of any infestation.

Then again, that wasn't really a huge surprise: if the Republic and Separatists had detected any Flood on board, the _Finalizer_ would've never escaped from Atmos at all. And even though they had, the First Order hadn't exactly profited much from this endeavor.

Sighing, Snoke sat back in his office chair, ruminating on what went wrong: first it was the Republic agents, then Laccabeus and his vessel, then the Flood and the superpowers. All so much trouble for nothing, especially since their employer had vanished completely during the chaos.

With Cyclonis gone and the Cyclonians almost certainly scattered, the First Order lacked the manpower to control the population, and that wasn't even getting into the problems involved with Laccabeus and his carrier, the casualties as a result, and the Flood.

"Apologies for the interruption, sir." Hux's voice appeared over the intercom interrupting his ruminations. "But we're getting a holo-call, addressed to you."

"Send it to my office." He said after a moment, which caused the holo emitter on his desk to beep.

Curious, Snoke answered the call, creating a hologram image of the person contacting him. He was a rather unassuming being; a human male in his later years, graying hair, sharply dressed in an expensive black suit, and had the air of a man long past his prime. Only the glowing blue patterns in his irises hinted at something different about him.

"General Snoke." The man said, taking a quick drag from a cigarette before exhaling it. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"Well, I'm at a disadvantage here." Snoke narrowed his eyes. "You know who I am, but I don't know you."

"You can call me the Illusive Man." The caller replied. "As for my intentions, I want to make an alliance with you."

Snoke paused at that; he had heard of the Illusive Man before; he had been the leader of a terrorist group called Cerberus in the universe of the Reapers, prior to the establishment of the multiverse.

According to reports, Cerberus had been disbanded after the Reaper war, with most of its infrastructure and manpower destroyed and its leader having committed suicide over Earth. Apparently those reports were mistaken.

"And what can you offer me?" Snoke crossed his arms. The man offered a small smirk in response.

"I can get you troops, resources, connections, material." The Illusive Man stated. "Everything you need to make your First Order a dominant player in the multiverse."

"And what would you want in return?" Snoke pointed out. "I highly doubt you'd do this all for free. You know what I want, but what do you desire?"

"What I always have." The Illusive Man replied. "For humans to gain the dominance they so rightly deserve throughout the cosmos."

"I'm listening."

* * *

Far from Atmos, in an entirely different universe, the sleek shape of the _Intention's Eye_ hung in the void of space, security and sensors hard at work still, sweeping every deck, every crevice, every soldier who had been retrieved from the surface, to ensure that no trace of the Flood had managed to get aboard.

If they did, Laccabeus was prepared to detach any tainted section and burn it with plasma fire. If that failed, the carrier would be set to self destruct, a precaution no one on the crew had any objections to. They all knew just how dangerous the Flood was.

Fortunately, such extreme measures seemed to be unnecessary; all scans of the ship were coming up clean. The Parasite had been left behind, to the (lack of) mercy of the interdimensional superpowers.

Now, the _Eye_ was drifting through the stars as Laccabeus sat in his meditation room, pondering what his next move would be. Tracking down the First Order was the first thought that came to mind, but he had no idea where to look.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only problem facing the _Intention's Eye_: much of their equipment had been left behind and/or destroyed on Atmos, leaving Laccabeus' forces severely short on weapons, armor and vehicles.

And that wasn't even getting into manpower issues; Laccabeus' troops had suffered casualties in recent years, far more than he would've liked. Atmos was the latest culmination of that, the campaign having cost him some of his best warriors. His thoughts were interrupted by the alert of his comm unit. Seeing it was from Makterbus, he answered and asked why his meditation had been interrupted.

"My apologies Shipmaster." His second in command replied. "We're receiving a transmission from an unknown source, one addressed specifically to you."

"Alright, patch it through to my quarters."

Laccabeus got up and walked over to the holoprojector, activating it as soon as the call signal went through. The hologram revealed the image of a Jiralhanae, one with distinct white tattoos on his face, a braided beard, and vaguely human designed armor on his body.

"Shipmaster Laccabeus." The Brute bowed his head slightly in respect. "It's always an honor to speak with you."

"Atriox." Laccabeus crossed his arms, not even remotely impressed with the Banished warmaster. "What is it you want?"

"The same thing I wanted the last time we spoke." Atriox replied. "I want you to join me."

* * *

_It's been a month since the final battle at the Far Side. A month since the Cyclonians were defeated and the alien invaders fled. And a month since the Far Side has been completely purged of the Flood._

_It's one thing to hear about it, but seeing it in person... well, I'm just glad that they're gone. And since then, it's been rather peaceful for Atmos, especially with Cyclonis' disappearance. That's not to say the Cyclonians gave up completely; sadly, they're still too stubborn for that. But without their Master leading them, well, it's mostly just mopping up now._

_As for our friends from the Republic, they left a few days after the final battle, saying they had other work to do._

...

The Storm Hawks had been busy, as had the rest of Atmos. In their haste to retreat, both the Covenant and the First Order had left a lot of their weapons and technology behind, enough to salvage and study on their own.

The remaining Cyclonians attempted to muster a defense using First Order tech, but with the disappearance of Master Cyclonis once again, they were disorganized and fairly clueless in regards to using their advantages properly.

Meanwhile, the Storm Hawks were taking a well earned break at Terra Ray, which had been lucky to emerge from the war mostly unscathed. The Condor was parked nearby as the team had gone off to do their own thing.

Aerrow and Piper had gone off to have some alone time (which had earned some snickers from Finn), while Stork stayed busy on the Condor. Junko and Finn were out surfing and Radarr was sunbathing.

Suddenly, a blue white rift emerged in the middle of the area, right next to the Condor. Stork was the first to notice, and quickly sent a warning over the speakers about the portal. As the Storm Hawks approached, they got into battle positions as two figures emerged from it. But they lowered their weapons as they saw who it was.

"Hey guys." Hunter said warmly. "Did you miss us?"

...

The Storm Hawks spent the next couple of hours catching up with their Republic friends, explaining what they had been doing since the two superpowers had left Atmos. After the conversation, MK gave a thoughtful expression.

"Sounds like you've been busy." She said. "I'm sorry we haven't been able to help."

"Let me guess; secret Republic business?" Finn deadpanned, earning an elbow from Piper.

"What Finn's trying to say is that we can't even imagine what you guys have been up to."

"Yeah, about that..." Hunter started. "We've told the Republic all about what happened here, and they're interested in meeting with you."

The Storm Hawks looked at each other in excitement. It was, in all honesty, an opportunity that was too good to pass up. Though there was some trepidation, it was drowned out by excited looks in everyone's (even Stork's) eyes as they looked to Aerrow, who answered for all of them.

"When do we leave?" A portal opened and answered Aerrow's question.

"Right now, if you'd like."

"I'm pretty sure that the Condor won't fit through there." Stork deadpanned.

"Don't worry about that, you'll be back before you know it." MK replied.

"And in the meantime," Hunter said, gesturing to the portal. "they'll keep it safe." Junko was about to ask who when the answer emerged from the rift.

A dozen Sentinels emerged from the portal, scanning the Condor before setting up in guard positions, ensuring that the airship would be safe. With their home secured (though Stork still grumbled about it), the Storm Hawks followed the Republic agents into the portal, emerging in a silver room with blue tinted lights, with Hunter and MK nowhere in sight.

"Scan in progress." A square of blue light appeared and bathed over the Storm Hawks, running over them several times before it finally finished. Once it was, a door opened at the other end of the room, revealing Hunter and MK standing there.

"Sorry about the security precautions." The electrokinetic said. "It's standard procedure."

"We don't exactly have too many non-Republic guests here." MK continued. "Hell, it was a long time before we ever got to see this place."

"See what?" Piper asked. "Where are we exactly?" Hunter smirked in response.

"C'mon." He said, gesturing to the door. "We'll show you."

They led the Storm Hawks through the strange door, out into the open. It took them a moment to adjust to the abrupt sunlight as they stepped onto the alien platform, but their eyes quickly adjusted and everyone's jaw hit the floor at the sight.

The Storm Hawks had seen a lot of amazing things in their lives. But nothing could've ever prepared them for this. The massive flower-shaped construct stretched as far as the eye could see, and in the sky, a massive ring sat orbiting the construct.

For once, the Storm Hawks were at a loss for words. The previous time they had had such a reaction was when they had first seen the far side of Atmos, but even that paled in comparison to this. It was Aerrow who found his voice first.

"Wow." Was all he could say. Radarr churred in agreement.

"It's beautiful." Piper said in awe.

"Dude!" Finn said.

Junko and Stork were silent, taking in the technological advancement alongside everyone else. Hunter and MK smiled, remembering that they had basically the exact same reaction when they first saw this place.

"Welcome to the Ark."


End file.
